The Noble and Prestigious Riesling Grape Variety: Characteristics, Aromas and Flavors

The Riesling grape variety

The Riesling grape variety is one of the most noble and prestigious white strains in the world. Originally from Germany, in the Rhein area, its cultivation has spread to many other regions, such as Alsace in France, Switzerland, Austria, Russia, Slovenia, Croatia, Hungary, Romania, northern Italy, northern Spain, Australia and California.

Characteristics of Riesling

Riesling is known for its fresh wines with high acidity. This strain stands out for its primary and characteristic aroma, making the white wines made with it high quality and very expressive. Additionally, this strain grows optimally in poor, rocky, well-drained soils.

Qualities of Riesling wines

Riesling wines usually have an intensely fruity aroma and high acidity. These wines can be dry or sweet and can be light or medium bodied. Riesling is a late-ripening strain, so the challenge for the winemaker is to balance the fruit notes and refreshing acidity of the strain. These wines age excellently in the bottle and over time acquire notes of honey, freshly cut bread, oil and kerosene.

Title: Riesling for sparkling and sweet wines

In addition, the Riesling strain is also suitable for the production of sparkling wines, such as Sekt in Germany. You can also obtain liqueur and sweet wines, such as Sauternes or Eiswein ice wines, made with frozen grapes. One of the most expensive wines in the world, Egon Müller Scharzhofberger Riesling Trockenbeerenauslese is a sweet German wine made from dried, raisined grapes affected by Botrytis.

Title: Visual and sensory aspects of Riesling wines

Regarding the characteristics of Riesling wines, they usually have a straw yellow color with greenish reflections. The aroma of Riesling wines depends on the growing region, climatic conditions and soil. In cool climates, Riesling wines tend to have a light body and a delicate floral bouquet with notes of apple and citrus. While in warm climates, they may have notes of pineapple, pear, peach, guava, honey, minerals or slightly spicy notes. On the palate, Riesling wines can have flavors of apple, peach, citrus, pineapple, lime and cinnamon.