International Riesling Day!

We love holidays. We love wine holidays, too. Today, March 13, is International Riesling Day! We’ll celebrate anything, so we got together tonight to toast some Riesling.

Riesling is the darling of Germany, and we could go deep down the rabbit hole of describing the laws and qualifications of German Riesling. But in the interest of the holiday, we’ll spare you. Generally, though, German Riesling is sweet to some degree.

Bart contributed:

Schmitt Söhne Riesling, Qualitätswein Rheinhessen 2022

If you’re learning to blind taste wine, you look for qualities of a grape that identify it. For Riesling, the giveaway is that it smells like petrol! That sounds bizarre and kind of unappealing, we know, but it’s a unique quirk of Riesling, especially those from Germany. This wine is no exception—it smells like gasoline. Fortunately it doesn’t taste that way! Tasting it, we’re reminded of ripe apples and peaches and maybe even kiwis. It’s a sweeter wine, but not real sweet. It would pair great with a spicier food, if you’re try to find a spicy food wine pairing!

Katie decided to go for a dry Riesling. She contributed:

Chateau Ste. Michelle, Dry Riesling, Columbia Valley 2023

This Riesling, as you can see, does not come from Germany but from Washington state instead. Ooh, this is a real crowd-pleaser! Just getting your nose in there, you can find a hint of petrol if you’re looking for it, but nothing like the first one. This one smells like key lime pie, like that lovely filling in the pie. It’s a little more tart when you actually taste it, reminding us of a crisp green apple. We could drink a lot of that on a nice warm day, like these nearly 80 degree days we’ve had lately. It almost seems to have a touch of sweetness to it, thanks to the fruitiness you get out of it. This was lovely! Katie got it for $9 at Plaza Wine and Spirits.

Happy International Riesling Day! Raise a glass!