Reconsidering riesling
Riesling grapes can be used to make sweet or dry wines — the "Dr. L" from Loosen Bros. exemplifies the most popular style of riesling from Germany's Mosel Valley.
Loosen Bros. “Dr. L” Riesling
Mosel, Germany
$14.99 8.5% alcohol
PLCB Item # 2048
Sale price through 8/3 — regularly $15.99
Wine drinkers tend to associate the lightly sweet and low-alcohol style of German rieslings, like this one, with the riesling grape itself. However, any wine grape can be vinified sweet or dry; the faint sweet-tartness of so many German wines has more to do with Germany’s climate and culture than the inherent traits of the grape. This wine hails from the Mosel Valley, west of Frankfurt, which is the northernmost of Europe’s major wine regions and one of the coldest growing regions for grapevines on earth. It’s this cold climate and centuries of adaptations made by vintners that have made the Mosel one of the only places in the world where sweet wines outnumber dry wines.
Typically, wines are fermented all the way to dryness for practicality’s sake, since this makes them shelf stable and prevents spoilage. Since all grapes contain ample sugar, it’s possible to manipulate the fermentation process to have it end before all of the sugar content is converted into alcohol. Technological advances make it possible to interrupt fermentation and make wines that taste sweet anywhere grapes are grown, but to be appealing, sweet wines need to be balanced, and this works best in cold regions that slow the fruit’s progress toward full ripeness.
Mosel wines are almost always made with 100% riesling, even when they are completely dry. For those with some sweetness, it can range in intensity from a barely perceptible whisper to a syrupy extreme that’s as viscous as honey. The most popular Mosel wines fall in the middle, like this one, where the sweetness is overt and immediately recognizable — think a single cube of sugar in your tea — but pleasingly balanced by the natural acidity found in grapes. The effect and flavor profile are similar to the sweet-tartness of biting into a fresh green apple, or a slice of honeydew melon seasoned with a squeeze of lemon.
Also available at:
Canal’s Liquors in Pennsauken, $10.41
Joe Canal’s in Lawrenceville, $11.49
Kreston Wine & Spirits in Wilmington, $11.99