White Wine

Riesling

A stunning variety made in a bewildering array of styles from crisp, dry to off-dry and incredibly sweet.

Beyond style, the variety has incredible ability to be consumed young or very old, producing some of the most long-lived white wines of any variety. The sweet German Rieslings also rate as some of the worlds most expensive.

Where is it grown?

In Europe we see plantings in Alsace, France, across many regions in Germany from the Mosel to the Rheinhessen and the Pfalz. Along with Grüner Veltinger, Riesling is widely planted in Austria.

In South Australia, the Clare Valley’s, Polish Hill and Watervale produce stunning Riesling. You’ll find great Riesling coming from the Eden Valley SA, Central Victoria, Canberra, Tasmania, and, from the Great Southern in WA.

There are some cracking Rieslings coming out of New Zealand too!

What does it taste like?

Fresher dry styles tend to have citrus aromas and flavours with floral blossoms. Riper styles introducing stone fruit.

From region to region winemaking changes from simple pressing of fruit and fermentation to dry in stainless steel to use of skin contact and maturation in oak. Layering in different textures and flavours.

Shifting gear to Germany and Alsace the game of balancing sugar, alcohol and acid comes into play. From dry 12.5-13% wines we shift to lower alcohol dry wines and then the freshest of the sweet wines, the Kabinett styles. Coming in with as little as 7.5% sugar the trick is achieving balance with higher acidity. From Kabinett we mover through an array of styles increasing in sweetness and alcohol, heading all the way to the very sweet botrytis style Trockenbeerenauslese & Icewein made from frozen grapes.

You can read more about the different styles of Riesling made in Germany in the Wine Bites Mag articles exploring Riesling.

Off-dry Riesling lends itself beautifully to pairing with many Asian foods. Aged, sweeter, botrytis styles are perfect with cheese and fresher fruit desserts. Fresh, citrus styles are perfect with seafood and lighter poultry.


2017 Riesling Sensations


Germany Dry

Delicious!

Wagner-Stempel Riesling Porphyr 2017

Riesling | Siefersheim, Germany

Beautifully balanced, it rests toward the acid side of the scales, with a touch less alcohol, taming rich luscious fruits. We often get seduced by opulence. Daniel's 2015's from sites yielding some of the ripest fullest fruit in the Rheinhessen certainly have such seduction. The 2016 Porphyr, beautifully balanced, it rests toward the acid side of the scales, with a touch less alcohol, taming rich luscious fruits. Such a sophisticated wine of great line and length.
$59
$56ea in any 3+
$53ea in any 6+

Wagner-Stempel Riesling Heerkretz 2017

Riesling | Rheinhessen, Germany

White peach, apple and lime are accented by their pits and pits as well as by raw almond on an enticing nose highly reminiscent of that exhibited by the corresponding 2016. Scents of Ceylon tea and spring beauty (Claytonia) add inner-mouth allure. The feel is flatteringly silken, notwithstanding the persistence of stimulating piquancy. Infectious juiciness, along with an invigoratingly tactile, active sense of crystalline stony impingement, dramatically sets this wine’s vibrant, bell-clear fin
$125
$120ea in any 3+
$115ea in any 6+
DRY
The 2017 Marienburg Riesling Fahrlay Terrassen opens with a bright, very clear, fresh and stony bouquet of concentrated white fruits and lemon notes intertwined with crushed slate aromas. On the palate, this is a highly finessed and elegant Riesling from vines that are 100+ years old. This 2017 serves intensity, power and complexity in a subtle way. The wine has a subtle tannin grip that makes this like a white Pinot Noir. Salty and crunchy and highly finessed, this is a powerful but elegant and
$174
$167ea in any 3+
$160ea in any 6+
DRY
The 2017 Pündericher Marienburg Riesling Raffes is the essence of gray slate. Bright in color and flavors but also intense and intermixed with lemon-fresh stony notes, this is a concentrated yet pure, fresh and finessed, highly intense and refined Riesling with great length and an endless finish. This is a powerful but Auslese-styled Riesling with concentration, finesse and lots of power but no alcoholic impression. The wine was bottled with 13% alcohol and almost nine grams of residual sugar.
$280
$270ea in any 3+
$260ea in any 6+

Germany Off-Dry

Seriously! How often to Graacher and Wehlener just come up with the goods. This is a superb Kabinett.  It has that slide flinty, reductive edge, less so than Prüm's Graacher. Huge energy here with a sense of translucence somehow coming through over the divine fruits. Reminds me of Clemens Busch. It has incredible length, with a pinch of salt to finish. Refreshing, mouthwatering, succulent juice, just as a good Kabinett should be! From 70- to 80-year-old vines, the 2017 Graacher Himmelreich
$49
$47ea in any 3+
$45ea in any 6+

Selbach Oster Wehlener Sonnenuhr Kabinett Riesling 2017

Riesling | Mosel-Saar-Ruwer, Germany

This is a beauty, graceful with a certain transparency to it. The freshness, combined with excellent depth and length is classic Kabinett. Like Max F Richter, the use of large old wood for fermentation and maturation harmonises the wine beautifully. A joy to devour! “Great Mosel Kabinett should be like drinking cool spring water; thirst quenching and delicious.” Johannes Selbach
$58
$55ea in any 3+
$52ea in any 6+
Yes! Stunning gear. I think the guys from Mosel Fine Wines calling it and Auslese Lange GK style is bang on. Lange GK = Long Gold Capsule and reference to the Reserve of the Reserve wines in Aussie vernacular. Give this 10-20 years and you'll be climbing a stairway to heaven! The 2017er Brauneberger Juffer-Sonnenuhr Auslese was harvested at well over 110° Oechsle. It offers a very classy and elegant nose of apricot blossom, whipped cream, almond, smoke and fine herbs. The wine proves highly
$71
$68ea in any 3+
$65ea in any 6+
Only 70L Made!
The 2017er Wehlener Sonnenuhr BA was harvested at a full 150° Oechsle. The wine proves still rather restrained yet already more than hints at gorgeous TBA-like notes of honey, raisin, baked spices, apple jelly, orange zest, toffee, and nut paste come through. These scents lead to stunningly creamy and honeyed notes including raisin, baked spices and apple jelly on the palate. A refreshingly acidity makes gives this superbly oily wine the great zesty side of an Eiswein (no wonder as this wine ha
$420
$405ea in any 3+
$390ea in any 6+

A.J.Adam Dhroner Hofberg Kabinett Riesling 2017

Riesling | Mosel-Saar-Ruwer, Germany

The guys from Mosel Fine Wines have nailed it! This is superb. When you listen to Andreas speak of the unique cooler climate of the site this all makes sense. Andreas and Barbara have achieved outstanding balance here. The vinosity with 8.5% alcohol is there, not always the case with young Rizza from this neck of the woods. The clean, refreshing acidity plays beautifully with the moderate residual sugar. Lythe with a divine set of flavours it's fantastic to see this a couple of years on and it w
$66
$63ea in any 3+
$60ea in any 6+

A.J.Adam Dhroner Häs’chen Kabinett Riesling 2017

Riesling | Mosel-Saar-Ruwer, Germany

A fascinating comparison to the Hofberg. An edge of reduction a la Prüm's Graacher Kabinett on openning. A little more richness comes across here by comparision with the Hofberg. The balance and vinosity making for a complete wine loaded with personality. The MFW guys have nailed it. Chuck it in a decanter to get it moving! AP 11.18  The 2017er Dhroner Häs’chen Kabinett was harvested at 85° Oechsle. Still marked by residues of spontaneous fermentation at first, it delivers a gorgeou
$73
$70ea in any 3+
$67ea in any 6+
AP 12.18  The 2017er Dhroner Hofberg Spätlese was harvested at 92° Oechsle in a prime parcel planted in the 1950s. It delivers a beautiful nose of whipped cream, vineyard peach, smoke, almond, earl grey and yellow plum. The wine offers great, almost concentrated presence on the mid-palate, yet a juicy and racy kick of acidity adds layers upon layers of freshness and intensity to the finish. This is a great success! 2027-2047 Jean Fisch & David Rayer, Mosel Fine Wines 94 Points
$93
$89ea in any 3+
$85ea in any 6+

Markus Molitor Zeltinger Sonnenuhr Auslese** 2017

Riesling | Mosel-Saar-Ruwer, Germany

Gold Cap - Fruchtsüss! A richer and nobly sweet style of Riesling. "The 2017 Riesling Zeltinger Sonnenuhr Auslese ** (Golden Capsule) displays a concentrated yet highly refined bouquet of orange, lemon and grapefruit aromas intermixed with delicate and refreshing slate notes. Lush, piquant and salty on the elegant, pure, even weightless palate, this is a crystalline Auslese with great finesse, grip, tension and highly stimulating salinity. This is a finessed, gorgeous beauty, and it almost ma
$115
$110ea in any 3+
$105ea in any 6+

Alsace Dry

Divine, Pure, Delicious!
Ask any Riesling tragic the Top 5 Rieslings in the World & they'll have Clos Sainte Hune on their list! Each region around the world has epic producers, in Alsace you think of Albert Mann, Zind Humbrecht, Ostertag and always Trimbach. Trimbach has certainly had plenty of practice. In only nine years they’ll celebrate the families 400thyear making wine! The first celebrated release of Clos Ste Hune was in 1919. "Vivid straw-green with gold highlights. Highly aromatic on the nose, revealing
$1,390
$1370ea in any 3+
$1350ea in any 6+

Alsace Off Dry

OFF-DRY

Domaine Marcel Deiss 1er Cru ‘Burg’ 2017

White Blend | Alsace, France

Premier Cru action from Deiss! A blend of 12 Alsatian Varieties! I haven't had the chance to try this yet. Given the rest of the 2017 are looking great this should be excellent too. D'Agata's note below if for the 2012. (a mixture of all the usual Alsace varieties, with a predominance of Gewürtzraminer, Riesling and Pinot Gris): Bright golden straw-yellow. The opulent nose features marmalady botrytis, honeyed tropical fruit and and sweet spice aromas. Densely packed, intense and showy, with
$138
$133ea in any 3+
$128ea in any 6+
OFF-DRY
Premier Cru action from Deiss! Riesling ~ Pinot Gris ~ Gewurztraminer I haven't had the chance to try this yet. Given the rest of the 2017 are looking great this should be excellent too. Notes from the last Grasberg I drank: Something quite special here. A unique wine of immense character. The botrytis play with spice, fresh apricot and almond / marzipan sits delicately with citrus, flowers, grapefruit and beyond. Off dry it sits balanced, with fresh acidity dancing over the light sweetnes
$138
$133ea in any 3+
$128ea in any 6+

Austria Dry

Following on from the epic 50 year version of this wine, Michael Moosbruger plans to now release both a 3 year and 10 year version annually. Read more of the technique below. The Cuvée 3 Years Edition 850 is a blend of : Vintage:  85% 2018, 10% 2017, 5% 2016 Grapes: 80% Grüner Veltliner,  20% Riesling This is an epic wine of intensity yet delicacy. Perfumed with incredible complexity and a seamless mouthfeel. Entrancing, divine wine that require deep thought and patience to make. Soft
$100
$95ea in any 3+
$90ea in any 6+

Gunderloch 2019's


What a Difference 3 Year Makes!

Gunderloch Jean Baptiste Riesling Kabinett 2019

Riesling | Rheinhessen, Germany

I love seeing Kabinett styles from the different regions of Germany. Gunderloch's from the Rheinhessen is an absolute cracker! So playful. This is an excellent wine. Complex with beautiful acid, a divine texture. Delicious. A beautiful expression. Compared to the Kabinett of Loosen in the Mosel you see and extra 2.5% alcohol, half the residual sugar and 1.5g/L less acid yet both are balanced. The extra fermentation raising the alcohol adds vinosity and more immediate approachability to the wine.
$42
$40ea in any 3+
$38ea in any 6+
A previous vintage of this wine was Johannes' 1st chance to make a wine on his own. Its success marked the changing of the baton from his father who granted him full control of all winemaking after tasting it! This was my note from the 2018 - Excellent personality, so much going on. Texturally insane. Great core of fruit. No sulphur to the juice allows the phenolics from the skin contact to oxidise and fall out leaving just the right amount of phenolic grip from the few days of skin contact the
$47
$45ea in any 3+
$43ea in any 6+
A juicy wine for the category with plenty of cassis character, but that doesn’t mean it’s really full-bodied. In fact, at the finish it’s quite a light and austere wine with a lot of herbal and green-leaf tea flavors. Drink or hold. Stuart Piggot
$78
$74ea in any 3+
$70ea in any 6+

Filters & Sorting

Showing 160 Delicious Wines!

Rieslingfreak No.3 Clare Valley 2021

Riesling | Eden Valley, Australia

Made from the family vineyard, White Hutt, Clare Valley. The heavy red clay soils contribute to the fruit intensity of this wine. According to winemakers John and Belinda Hughes, No.3 is a fruit driven style of Riesling. Classic flavours of this vineyard include ripe lemon and limes and some melon and tropical fruit notes.  The Riesling drinks well young, but will also reward with cellaring. Complete the set. We also have Rieslingfreaks No.2 and No.4 from 2021.
$28
$26ea in any 6+
$24ea in any 12+

Swinney Riesling 2022

Riesling | West Australia, Australia

Riesling and the Great Southern region of WA are a great match. Swinney's covers all of the gaps I find in so many Australian Rieslings. The two big ones: development and vinosity, and texture. Precise with an exceptional line of acid giving it the tension to hold exceptional fruit. A twist of phenolics adding interest and a cleansing finsh. Great gear! The 2022 Riesling was bottled June 2022, and at the time of tasting (August 2022), it had spent only two months in glass. It is piercing
$41
$38ea in any 3+
$35ea in any 6+

Gunderloch Jean Baptiste Riesling Kabinett 2019

Riesling | Rheinhessen, Germany

I love seeing Kabinett styles from the different regions of Germany. Gunderloch's from the Rheinhessen is an absolute cracker! So playful. This is an excellent wine. Complex with beautiful acid, a divine texture. Delicious. A beautiful expression. Compared to the Kabinett of Loosen in the Mosel you see and extra 2.5% alcohol, half the residual sugar and 1.5g/L less acid yet both are balanced. The extra fermentation raising the alcohol adds vinosity and more immediate approachability to the wine.
$42
$40ea in any 3+
$38ea in any 6+

Dhillon by Bindi Glenhope Riesling 2023

Riesling | Victoria, Australia

This new project from the granite soils in the northern end of the Macedon Ranges at 460m above sea level is an exciting addition to our activities. The vineyard was established in 1995 and the fruit has ostensibly been “lost” interstate until new Victorian owners took over in spring 2021. The new regime has quickly invested in the infrastructure and fine-tuned activities and several top producers are sourcing fruit from this excellent site. The Riesling was harvested in mid April and wild y
$43
$40ea in any 3+
$37ea in any 6+
A previous vintage of this wine was Johannes' 1st chance to make a wine on his own. Its success marked the changing of the baton from his father who granted him full control of all winemaking after tasting it! This was my note from the 2018 - Excellent personality, so much going on. Texturally insane. Great core of fruit. No sulphur to the juice allows the phenolics from the skin contact to oxidise and fall out leaving just the right amount of phenolic grip from the few days of skin contact the
$47
$45ea in any 3+
$43ea in any 6+

Dönhoff Estate Riesling 2019

Riesling | Nahe, Germany

Wow! This takes refreshment to a new level! Lime fest with the zest! So many elements that you could choose to pull out, the pop of spice, hit of musk, the slatey phenolics, juicy acid, and multi-layered fruit. A superb, together Riesling. Dry and 11.5% making for a next-level thirst quencher. Great now, it will live for a long time, showing different personalities as it ages. If this what Dönnhoff have pulled off with the entry level gear, the top stuff is going to be insane. The Nahe re
$48
$45ea in any 3+
$42ea in any 6+
Seriously! How often to Graacher and Wehlener just come up with the goods. This is a superb Kabinett.  It has that slide flinty, reductive edge, less so than Prüm's Graacher. Huge energy here with a sense of translucence somehow coming through over the divine fruits. Reminds me of Clemens Busch. It has incredible length, with a pinch of salt to finish. Refreshing, mouthwatering, succulent juice, just as a good Kabinett should be! From 70- to 80-year-old vines, the 2017 Graacher Himmelreich
$49
$47ea in any 3+
$45ea in any 6+

Julian Haart ‘Haart’ Riesling 2020

Riesling | Mosel-Saar-Ruwer, Germany

A lovely build to a just off dry rizza. Here there is a little more generosity supported by excellent acid. Again the shape, mouthfeel and flow is excellent. The extension in depth and length here is impressive for just a few more coins. The flavours are riper, lemon sherbet without the sweetness and rind oil with grapefruit, with a little hint of baking spice, again the savoury earthy pops. Very sophisticated making. Incredibly moreish. Elderflower and much more on offer. Divine wine.
$49
$46ea in any 3+
$43ea in any 6+

Fritz Haag Riesling Braunberger-Juffer Kabinett 2020

Riesling | Mosel-Saar-Ruwer, Germany

Did somebody say aperitif? Effusive white-peach, honeysuckle and vanilla-bean aromas pour from the glass of this Kabinett. A very juicy wine with wonderful lightness and mineral freshness. An ideal partner for conversation. Stuart Piggot, Suckling
$55
$52ea in any 3+
$49ea in any 6+

Selbach Oster Wehlener Sonnenuhr Kabinett Riesling 2017

Riesling | Mosel-Saar-Ruwer, Germany

This is a beauty, graceful with a certain transparency to it. The freshness, combined with excellent depth and length is classic Kabinett. Like Max F Richter, the use of large old wood for fermentation and maturation harmonises the wine beautifully. A joy to devour! “Great Mosel Kabinett should be like drinking cool spring water; thirst quenching and delicious.” Johannes Selbach
$58
$55ea in any 3+
$52ea in any 6+
Delicious!

Wagner-Stempel Riesling Porphyr 2017

Riesling | Siefersheim, Germany

Beautifully balanced, it rests toward the acid side of the scales, with a touch less alcohol, taming rich luscious fruits. We often get seduced by opulence. Daniel's 2015's from sites yielding some of the ripest fullest fruit in the Rheinhessen certainly have such seduction. The 2016 Porphyr, beautifully balanced, it rests toward the acid side of the scales, with a touch less alcohol, taming rich luscious fruits. Such a sophisticated wine of great line and length.
$59
$56ea in any 3+
$53ea in any 6+
"The 2019er Brauneberger Juffer Riesling Kabinett was made from fruit picked at 83° Oechsle, and was fermented down to fruity-styled levels of residual sugar (45 g/l). It offers a superbly engaging nose made of pear, elderflower, cassis, vineyard peach, a touch of apricot blossom, and a hint of whipped cream. The wine is gorgeously playful on the palate, where creamy elements mingle with racy acidity. The wine leaves one with a nicely multi-layered feel in the mouthwatering finish. This is a be
$59
$56ea in any 3+
$53ea in any 6+

Max Ferdinand Richter Wehlener Sonnenuhr Kabinett 2019

Riesling | Mosel-Saar-Ruwer, Germany

"From 80-year-old vines predominantly from the original Sonnenuhr plot below the sundial, the 2019 Wehlener Sonnenuhr Riesling Kabinett opens with still reductive, sulfuric yet also beautifully floral, bright and elegant fruit aromas that indicate remarkable delicacy. Round and finessed on the elegant and refined palate, this is a very intense, sweet and persistently salty-mineral WSU with great finesse and length. Persistently salty." Stephan Reinhardt, The Wine Advocate
$59
$56ea in any 3+
$53ea in any 6+

Robert Weil Rheingau Riesling Trocken 2020

Riesling | Rheingau, Germany

On a spectrum of boldest to most elegant, Riesling in the Rheingau sits in the middle for me, making cracking dry Rizza with plenty of tension whilst have the balance to produce superb off-dry to sweet wines. The 2020 Rheingau adds incredible depth and length for an entry-level wine. Citrus perfume, white flowers, a little sulphur on open. Give it a decant. Lovely line and length. Fine sherbet acid. Excellent level of phenolics cleaning the palate beautifully. Acid soaks up the sugar. Lime, z
$59
$56ea in any 3+
$53ea in any 6+
DRY

Domaine Marcel Deiss ‘Ribeauvillé’ 2018

White Blend | France, Alsace

Riesling ~ Sylvanner ~ Pinot Blanc = Seamless, Delicious, Expressive, Beautiful! A blend of mostly Riesling and a small percentage of the Sylvaner and Pinot Blanc. Planted on essentially marl and clay soils. Riesling shining through here with white flowers, citrus, a little pear / lightly poached quince, feijoa and baking spices. There is richness yet a transparency to the wine. Wonderfully expressive at this young age, the depth and length here is impressive. A palpable energy. Wonderful harmon
$59
$56ea in any 3+
$53ea in any 6+
AP: 13 20. The 2019er Marienburg Riesling Spätlese, as it is referred to on the main part of the consumer label and with a golden capsule, was made from fruit picked at 102° Oechsle from a selection of partially (10%) botrytized fruit and was fermented down to noble-sweet levels of residual sugar. It offers a superbly backward nose made of vineyard peach, cassis, elderflower, some almond cream, a hint of apricot, fine spices, and smoke. The wine proves superbly delineated and focused on the co
$60
$57ea in any 3+
$54ea in any 6+