First of all, I would just like to say that there is no way I could not join a community called Wine Berserkers. The name suggests a band of fearless and adventurous enthusiasts.
The name is particularly apt for me,: As a migraine sufferer, trying a new wine involves some risk, since generally my condition and alcohol do not mix. The red wines and even the blush wines are completely out, due to nitrates.
Let me tell you about a wine I found which, in moderation, not only does NOT give me a headache, but validates wine’s designation as “cheer.” Does Riesling contain any St. John’s Wort, or other anti-depressant herbs?
I first found Riesling at a wonderful hip bistro and music venue out in the middle of rural Vermont: The Parker Pie Company in Glover. The brand was Yellow Tail (from Australia) and I have been buying it ever since. It is reasonable, at about $7 a bottle in the supermarket. What other Rieslings do people like, and why is it so darn good?
I like it so much, in fact, that I’ve waxed poetical about it. Here are a few lines from my (very short) Riesling poem.
Welcome & hang on to your hat, they’ve only been making wine with riesling for somewhere between 600-1000 years.
In any case, riesling is certainly one of the (& many would say The) best grapes out there for wine, and is made successfully in pretty much any style white wine can be made, dry, sweet, sparkling, light, rich, foodie, desserty, and of course all over the world.
If possible find a wine-specialist retailer committed to helping you explore this huge variety and find out which styles and sources please you the most. I personally prefer European (& mostly German) versions, but then I began enjoying riesling 40 or so years ago, the landscape was somewhat more compact.
Welcome! You should search for “Riesling” and “$25” and you should come up with tons and tons of recs. Riesling is a very well-respected and largely under-priced variety. You should have tons of fun exploring that variety alone.
Search the archives. Here is a recent thread on $25 Rieslings.
I am just starting to explore the grape myself and I like it a lot. It’s an exciting and fresh varietal with low alcohol and I find it quite expressive. And easy on the wallet. I’m focusing on Germany only at this point as I like to pick an area and get to know it well first. My recent tasty discovery is the Leitz Out 2013 from the Mosel. Many people also like Leitz Dragonstone, but I have not been able to find it locally. I have no idea what Vermont is like for wine selection, or online buying and shipping, but the US generally has fantastic access to wine compared to where I live.
I think most people here would tell you that the best rieslings are from Germany, Austria and Alsace (in France). Many of the German ones are sweet; those can be wonderful if you like that style. The Austrian and Alsatian ones are almost all dry.
I suspect you mean sulfites, which are often present in white wines, too.
Ellin, you’re certainly not alone on this board or in the wine world in your affection for riesling. Not sure where you are in Vermont, but if you’re into visiting wineries, I’d bet you can be in the Finger Lakes region of New York in about 5 hours or so.
There you’ll find a countless fairly priced, exceptional bottles. Makes for an exceptional weekend getaway. Tons of recommendations on this board for places to visit in NY if you ever get curious.
You’re also not alone in your being a migraineur. I pay for any and all excesses and, much as I’ve tried to link it to various wine-related triggers: sulfites, Brett, alcohol, tannins, those analyses have failed scrutiny - I get headaches from clean whites as much as bretty or tannic reds, and from unsulfured wines as much as standards treatments.
If you liked Riesling and it doesn’t give you a headache, great. Many of us are just starting to explore it and you owe it to yourself to go to a -good- wine store and explore the various basic styles and regions. Pick up a kabinett, spatlese and auslese, preferably from the same producer, and compare them. Pick an Austrian, an Alsatian and a dry German and compare them. Do a little basic reading: Wikipedia is fine for starters. Get into it!
Welcome to the board and congrats on your exploration of Riesling. I am exploring this varietal also, and have derived much pleasure from many German kabinetts sporting a tariff of 25 bucks or less. The list of candidates is almost endless, but of course part of the fun is trying out different producers. FWIW I think that the Donnhoff kabinetts are little gems for the price, for example.
It really is an international grape. I happen to really like Austrian Rieslings also. You are near the Finger Lakes region and those Rieslings are really taking off. Washington State has successfully grown this varietal for many years.
You have lots of fun to look forward to. Good luck.
Sad to say, Alto Adige wines are in great demand (mostly in Austria and Germany) and short supply, not QPR leaders but the average quality across the region may be the highest on the planet. It is VERY hard to find a wine that is not very well made and speaking of its terroir.
Thanks, everyone, for all the helpful comments and advice. I will combine some responses and specific information in one reply.
John in New York: Yes indeed, you are right: it is sulfites, not nitrates, in wine, that bother me. I don’t know if I should embarrass myself again and venture a guess that it is nitrates in hotdogs and bacon? I have some seasonal neighbors here in Vermont who are winemakers. They swear they make a red wine that is sulfite-free but I will not try it. Even a small amount of red wine affects me like a small amount of arsenic…
Here in Northern Vermont there are some large supermarkets, as well as Mom and Pop grocery stores, which stock wine and beer, along with liquor stores. I do not know of a wine specialty shop per se; but there is a Duty-Free Shop near me. The merchandise seems to have a French theme (Chambord liqueur, Lancome perfume) and it would be interesting to go back and see which wines are in the mix.
I am still wondering about whether Riesling has some special ingredient that gives it an antidepressant effect: an herb like the woodruff in May wine. A trade secret, perhaps?
I’m curious about the connection between sulfites and migraine. Since all wines contain sulfites, it seems unlikely that sulfites could be triggering an episode from reds and roses but not whites.
I’ve suffered migraines for 25 years and have never been able to link an episode to anything specific.