For our small part in the festivities, please come by on Friday (6/22) between 5:00 and 7:00pm to sample Rieslings from Germany (and a Pinot Noir as well). Riesling expert Evan Spingarn will be on hand to elaborate on Riesling's greatness, and answer any and all questions.
Later in the summer we will be showcasing Rieslings from other regions as well - because, hey, it's the Summer of Riesling.
As a bonus, all featured wines will be 10% off for the day.
Wines to be poured:
Gut Hermannsberg Riesling Trocken 2009 ($19.00)
The Facts
Riesling is about the most versatile, and misunderstood, grape around; in a blind tasting you'd never guess that all of the wines we'll taste come from the same grape. The wine can be completely dry, off- dry, semi-sweet or sweet. As a bonus, it works very well with cuisines not so easy to match with wine. And, it can age, which is not true of most wine in the price range shown above. Rieslings just get better and better.
Now, don't get all worked up thinking you don't like "sweet" wine and that only dry wine is cool. Sweetness in wine, as long as it's offset by proper acidity, is a very good thing. Think of lemonade: too much sugar and the drink becomes cloying, too much lemon and the mouth puckers eliciting strange stares from passersby. But, when the sugar and lemon are balanced, you have a perfect, refreshing drink. Sweeter rieslings have the added bonus (well, maybe not all of you think it's a bonus) of being low in alcohol, so they make the perfect summer drink.
The dry rieslings go well with fish and chicken dishes and can stand up to pork and even sausage (which they eat a lot of in Alsace, while more in hot-dog form in the Finger Lakes). The rieslings on the sweeter side pair well with many Asian cuisines, the sweetness cutting through the inherent spiciness of many dishes. For years people drank beer, if anything, with these cuisines. After our tasting, take a couple sweeter rieslings home, order in some Chinese food, and be amazed.
