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
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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+
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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+
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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
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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
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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+
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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
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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+
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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+
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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+
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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
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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
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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
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Filters & Sorting

Showing 158 Delicious Wines!

DRY
"The 2019er Riesling vom blauen Schiefer, as it is referred to on the main part of the label, comes from early pickings in the blue-slate sector (Fahrlay) of the Pündericher Marienburg. It offers a gorgeously floral and subtle bouquet quickly joined by mirabelle, vineyard peach, herbs, passion fruit, and smoke. The wine is gorgeously animating on the precise and zest-infused palate and leaves a feel of orchard fruits and herbal elements in the beautifully tart finish. The after-taste is all abo
$100
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“From the oldest, up to 50-year-old vines of the estate and cultivated on partly reddish phyllite soils in altitudes up to 300 meters, the 2020 Kiedrich Klosterberg Riesling Trocken was aged on the full lees until late July for the first time (instead of April, like in the former vintages). This brings a remarkable, delicate, subtle and articulated, very elegant and flinty, almost Mosel-like Riesling bouquet of bright fruit aromas (mango, passion fruit) intertwined with notes of crushed iron a
$100
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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+

Alzinger Ried Steinertal Riesling Smaragd 2019

Riesling | Niederösterreich, Wachau

Skin contact shows in the best possible way. The phenolics have a lovely delicacy, perfumed, and wonderful precise flavour long fine sophisticated, a real delicacy and transparency phenolic handling is excellent. Spice and florals at play, so fresh and energetic with a silvery line of bitterness. Superb drink. A Ried (single vineyard wine) of the Smaragd classification, the highest classification for wines from the Wachau.
$100
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Delicious again their seems to be a lift in the flow shape and texture, elegance and refinement here for Weil. Stunning wine. Richness and delicacy. Chalky acid phenolic complex. Fine elegant delicious. Fine acid. Perfumed white flowers. Power of fruit with weightlessness. Soft acid. The most exceptional lime cordial fruit.  More delicacy and white flowers. Each of these wines would stand beautifully on its own.  “The 2021 Kiedrich Turmberg Riesling Trocken is pure and coolish on the
$104
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$94ea in any 6+
I've been watching Kientzler over the last decade now and have seen them consistently produce excellent wines from the Lieu Dit Muhlforst and the Grand Cru vineyards of Osterberg, Geisberg and Schoenenbourg. The 2021 Osterberg is beautiful, refined, long, layered & complex with exceptional acid and that Kientzler house funk. A long. linear line of super fine matches, citrus, musk, jasmine & spice. This is very very good. Exceptional development looks like oak élévage, yet it is rais
$104
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A super-filigree Mosel Auslese that impresses with fabulous delicacy and precision. So much vanilla-bean character, but also tropical-flower aromas. Beautifully integrated grape sweetness at the long, very refined finish.  Stuart Piggot, Suckling Also available in 375ml and Magnum!
$105
$100ea in any 3+
$95ea in any 6+

Weinbach Cuvée Theo Riesling 2021

Riesling | France, Alsace

Monopole of young vines at the base of Schlossberg in Le Clos des Capucins. Fascinating initially a little estery, openning in the glass to reveal fruit with savoury complex spices a little apricot kernel. Soft round and luscious. Rich with exceptional élévage / development. So together. A lovely dirty earthy edge to complement the fruit. Long fine textural so long powerful and muscular real presence. There is a Marcel Deiss thing going on here.  “Delightful nose of pink grapefruit,
$105
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$95ea in any 6+
95 MFW

A.J.Adam Dhroner Hofberg Spätlese Riesling 2021

Riesling | Mosel-Saar-Ruwer, Germany

AP: 15 22. The 2021er Hofberg Spätlese, as it is referred to on the consumer label, was made from fruit harvested at 86° Oechsle in the backside of the main hill of the vineyard and was fermented down to fruity-styled levels of residual sugar (62 g/l). It offers a beautifully aromatic and complex nose of vineyard peach, fresh pineapple, smoke, minty herbs, fine spices (ginger), and almond. The wine proves gorgeously playful on the palate where some creamy elements give gradually way to candied
$105
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Very good. Complete, long & fine. A deceptive mid-weight with a much finer more complete finish than its predecessors in the lineup. Underlying savoury layer with delicious slightly green white stone fruit. A little soft green herb.  Excellent texture, mineral, pure & fine. Patience will be rewarded in spades. The first mention of the Altenburg in Wachenheim dates back to the High Middle Age, and this is definitely not the last one. The coolest site of the domaine that holds 1.22
$107
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$97ea in any 6+

Willi Schaefer Graacher Domprobst Auslese #11 HALF 2019

Riesling | Mosel-Saar-Ruwer, Germany

Initially reductive notes of smoke and aniseed herbs, then pear, honeyed yellow peach, spices, fresh herbs, violet and bergamot join the party. Develops gorgeous playful sweetness on the light-footed and delicately zesty palate, and leaves gorgeously direct flavours of fruit basket and candied grapefruit in the finish. This joyful and fruit-driven auslese will be irresistible at maturity.  Mosel Fine Wines
$110
$105ea in any 3+
$100ea in any 6+

Domaine Marcel Deiss 1er Cru ‘Burg’ 2015

White Blend | France, Alsace

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 2015 a 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 ri
$110
$105ea in any 3+
$100ea in any 6+
White Cap - Dry "The lime-green-golden 2019 Bernkasteler Lay Auslese ** (White Capsule) is deep, intense and concentrated yet elegant and still precise and flinty on the nose. The attack on the palate is stunningly young and vital before the elegant and crystalline wine reveals its complexity and inner power. This is a tightly structured, very digestible and still edgy Auslese that needs another 5-6 years or so to settle and shine. This 2019 is enormously salty on the finish and highly promising
$111
$106ea in any 3+
$101ea in any 6+
Gold Cap - Fruchtsüss! A richer and nobly sweet style of Riesling. "The yellow-golden 2019 Graacher Himmelreich Auslese ** (Golden Capsule) is brilliantly clear yet also intense and concentrated on the pure, fresh, finely raisined and herbal (rosemary), slightly honeyed nose that is complex and ambitious. Dense and juicy, with a vivacious purity and great finesse, this is a concentrated, vibrantly fresh and tightly structured Auslese with a remarkably digestible finish. There might be some per
$111
$106ea in any 3+
$101ea in any 6+

A.J.Adam Dhroner Hofberg Auslese Riesling 2019

Riesling | Mosel-Saar-Ruwer, Germany

AP 17.20 The 2019er Hofberg Auslese, as it is referred to on the consumer label, was made with clean fruit harvested at 98° Oechsle from the main hill of the vineyard, and was fermented down to fully sweet levels of residual sugar. It is slightly reductive at first and needs a few minutes in the glass to reveal its ripe and engaging nose of pineapple, candied grapefruit, apricot, pear puree, honey, raspberry, and smoke. The wine is superbly playful on the richly aromatic, honeyed, and sweet pal
$114
$109ea in any 3+
$104ea 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+