riesling's hangover

NOVEMBER 2013 / /  47

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WINING GOLFER  [  LIFESTYLE ]

GiveitagoRiesling’s old stigma belies a truly classic and underestimated varietal. By GrantDodd

MENTIONtheword ‘Riesling’ in politecompanyand

 you’ll get an ambivalent response.Formany, it’s a word

thatstrikes fearintothe heart.Notmerelythe name

ofa grape variety, Rieslingsomehowbecame synonymouswith

bag-in-a-boxgoon,hangovers, headaches,inexpensive dross

anda three-daygrowth. Itis thefit-allwinetermofyesteryear

forwhitewineof indeterminateorigin.

Timeshavechanged, but thestigmaof thepastremains.

Despitebeinglauded bycritics,and showing thatit is capable

ofproducingoutstandingly expressive, long-livedwinesin

bothsweet and dry styles,Rieslingis a hard sell for allbuta few 

specialists ofthe variety in thiscountry.

Those specialistsare concentrated in small pocketsof 

Australiawhere climatic conditions suitthevariety.Riesling 

prospers in thecold, with itsnominalbirthplace along the

steepbanksof theMosel Riverin Germany. There itretains

highnaturalacidity, helped alongbyfreezingwinters anda 

marginalclimatefor ripening.Australia’s bestsites,in South

Australia’s ClareandEdenValley’s,WestAustralia’s Frankland

River(  right  ) andTasmania,don’treplicate the severity of 

Germanconditionsbutdo enablededicatedgrowers tocreate

distinctively floral-,lime- and lemon-drivenRieslingsthatare

deserving ofrespect. A good startingpoint for thoselooking 

toexplorewouldbe with nameslikeGrosset,Pikes,Kerri

Thompson, FranklandRiver, CastleRockandLeoBuring.

Thenofcourse,thereis Germany, andno explorationof 

Riesling canbecompletewithoutdelving intothese remarkably 

long-livedanduniquewines.Bya strangecoincidence,one

ofthemostadventurous importersof Riesling inAustralia 

isa manwhowasa former deputyeditor ofAustralianGolf 

Digest.NevilleYateswas atthe magazine during thereignof 

ToaskGrant a question,e-mail us atgolfdig@newslifemedia.com.au

thelegendaryPhilTressider.Hecaught thewinebug 

along theway, andin a twist offatemany years later,

foundhimself with accessto a handful ofhigh-quality 

Germanproducerswhowere interested in selling 

 wine in the Australianmarket.

Yates nowhandles an enviableportfolioof someof 

thegreatest namesin theRieslingworld, including 

Willi Schaefer, FritzHaag,ReinholdHaart and

Zilliken.These arewinesof thevery highest order,

 grown along the slopesofGermany’smain rivers

in some ofthemostextreme conditionsknown

toviticulture.Theycome ina range ofstylesand

sweetness, all theway fromdry to thelate-picked

style,whichcan havemore than300gof sugar

perlitre.Needlessto say, these arewinesthat

take some understanding,butthecombinationof 

delicacy, power andpersistencethat thegreatest

Rieslings bring tothe table arean experience

that every wine lover should savourat somepoint

in their life.

Yatesis morethan happyto helppeople find something 

to their liking,and canbe contacted throughhis company,

EurocentricWines.Onemore thing;many ofthesewines

 weigh in around the 7-8 per centalcohol range,meaning you’ll

haveto drinkan awfullotto induceone ofthose

demonicRiesling hangoversofdayspast.

Riesling grapes growing at GrossetWines in South Australia’s Clare Valley.

AGD1113p047 47 20/09/13 10:35 AM