The biggest misconception most people in general have, is that Riesling is always sweet. I remember growing up when my first encounter with wine was the awful Liebfraumilch which were sold in the big cartons. Of course back then, our main purpose for drinking was to get drunk, and as long as it was “sweet” it went down pretty easy. Unfortunately, a lot of people still associate this grape variety with boxed, low quality wine, when nothing could be further from the truth. Riesling is probably one of the noblest grapes in existence, able to produce world quality wines of all different styles; dry, semi sweet, sweet/dessert wines, late harvest and sparkling. Riesling is known to be the wine experts’ darling while still having a long way to go to gain that notoriety among the general public.
Riesling, an offspring of the Weisser Heunisch wine, is native to the Rhine region of Germany, and was always regarded as a high quality grape, but because of its relatively low yield, was expensive to cultivate and thus was not widely grown. German immigrants would take it to the New World and by the mid to late 19th century it was growing in both Australia, California and Washington. Today there is Riesling grown all over the world, as it is a very flexible grape variety but at the same time a very terroir specific grape. Some people believe that Riesling was born in an Austrian city called Rizling in the Wachau, first mentioned in the thirteenth century, and hence may be the oldest recorded place of cultivation.
German Rieslings are known to be flowery and aromatic with acidity and body varying from crisp and light to softer, riper and fuller, while Rieslings from Austria are most often dry, fuller and with a pure, minerally core more like Gruner Veltliner. Sometimes the alcohol can be quite high, around 13% or so, which sometimes can jeopardize its aroma and flavor. When grown on the best sites, however, the grape produces some amazing examples and may be closer in style to the Rieslings of Alsace rather than Germany. I must admit, I really love Austrian wines in general, and while Gruner Veltliner may be the most well known and popular grape variety from this country, their Rieslings may perhaps be my favorite white wine. Known predominantly for their refreshing whites (although they produce some delicious reds too, well worth checking out) Austrian wines also make for a perfect choice for the upcoming summer season!
A wine I was pleasantly surprised with was the ARTNER Riesling Buhlweingarten 2012, which I picked up at one of my local wine shops the other day. Having noticed their selection of Austrian wines had increased the past few months, I was curious about this bottle in particular, which also came highly recommended by the staff.
The Artner estate encompasses about 30 ha and is located in Carnuntum in Niederosterreich in eastern Austria, close to Vienna. Hannes Artner is an ambitious grower considered one of the top growers in the region. See map of area below:
Niederosterreich is Austria’s largest quality wine growing region, and Carnuntum lies to the east here along the southern banks of the Danube river covering an area from Vienna to the Slovakian border.
The estate specializes in Austrian grape varieties such as Zweigelt and Blaufrankisch, as well as a range of white grape varieties which epitomizes the characteristics of the terroir and region. In addition to Riesling, they produce Sauvignon Blanc, Gruner Veltliner, Gelber Muskateller, Chardonnay and Welschriesling. As for reds, they produce Blauer Zweigelt, Blaufrankisch, Merlot, Syrah and Cabernet Sauvignon. The family ARTNER also runs two successful restaurants in Vienna, in addition to a wine tavern in Carnuntum.
Tasting Notes:
The wine has a pale yellow core with green tints – very aromatic on the nose; citrus, lime, apples, peach and herbal as well as some grassy notes.
On the palate it is medium bodied, dry with crisp acidity. Bright fresh apples, pears, lemon, lime and peach repeats again here, and the minerality shines throughout. Grassy flavors are well integrated and the wine finishes long.
Conclusion: An absolutely delicious refreshing Riesling, balanced with explosive fruit and fresh acidity. Very harmonious wine that gets better and better with each sip – a perfect summer wine!
Rating: 4/5
Food Pairing: Everything! Riesling is a very food friendly wine, but if I have to pick a few choices I would go with a nice grilled chicken or roasted duck, roast pork, poached salmon, seared scallops and shellfish, light Asian food, triple creme cheeses, summer fruits and any apple desserts.
Retail: $15
SOILFUL WINES 