A problem with Rieslings

One of the versatilities with Riesling also is one of its perception problems with consumers. This came to light as I entered wine for our Riesling judging into our databases.

Very few Rieslings provide signals about whether the wine is dry, off-dry or sweet.

Certainly, the ice wines are very sweet (often higher than 20% residual sugar). And if a wine says "late harvest," you can count on it being at least 6% residual sugar. On occasion, a wine will be called "Dry Riesling," which will provide the wine lover with an idea that there is almost no residual sugar.

However, the vast majority of Rieslings simply say, "Riesling" or "White Riesling" on the label. The residual sugar is rarely listed on the back label or even on the winery's website.

I don't know that Riesling will capture the public's complete attention until wineries begin to provide better information about what is in the bottle.

On a happy note, it appears we will have more than 100 Rieslings to judge this weekend. I am especially pleased with the large number of Oregon wineries producing Rieslings. I've often thought the cooler regions of the Willamette Valley would be perfect for great Riesling. We'll find out Saturday how those wines fare.

By aperdue at May 8 2008 - 6:19am | grape varieties | white wine | aperdue's blog | 654 reads

labeling RS

The TTB regulation for stating RS on the label is the reason ours doesn't include that data. They want the sugar at harvest and at bottling stated using the same scale; brix, percent by weight, g/L. The regulation seems to not allow for brix at harvest and rs at bottling since they are different scales. Instead we use the appropriate description; dry, semi-dry, sweet.

By elwood91 at Mon, 05/12/2008 - 8:17am | login or register to post comments

RS on labels

I don't recall off the top of my head how Pacific Rim lists this, but I don't think it mentioned harvest brix. Perhaps Nicolas can address this the next time he logs on.

By aperdue at Mon, 05/12/2008 - 9:06am | login or register to post comments

Labelling

Andy and friends,

We, at Pacific Rim, always indicate the residual sugar level in percent on our labels. We also clearly mark the wines "Dry" (below 0.9 g/l for us) or "Sweet" (above 5 g/L for us). This has worked for us well in the past.

The varietal name is Riesling. White Riesling is used only in the USA. Gray Riesling is Trousseau I think.

The alcohol trick is good but you need the harvest brix to use it well. You can do that with German wines because they indicate the sugar level at harvest (Kabinett, Spatlese, auslese...).

Just FYI, a group of Riesling producers have formed the International Riesling Foundation (we are a founding member, I am the vice president)and we are actively working at coming up with labeling standards for Riesling so stay tuned!

NicoRiesling

By nicoriesling at Fri, 05/09/2008 - 1:20pm | login or register to post comments

Riesling labeling

Nicolas,

I just put your wines into the database and noted that all listed RS on the label, a trend the rest of the industry should follow.

We ended up having to guess on a dozen or so wines' RS based on alcohol. We'll hope we're within a half-percent (we'll also warn the judges that we think we're close on the RS).

Another factor on perceived sweetness is the level of fruit (vs. mineral/slate notes), along with acidity. The lower the acidity, the higher the perceived sweetness.

By aperdue at Fri, 05/09/2008 - 1:36pm | login or register to post comments

dry Riesling

I grow (organic) and make a dry Riesling in western Marin County, CA. It is organically farmed, less than 4 g/L RS, pH of 3.19 and in a Bordeaux bottle. Bordeaux bottle shape usually contains dry wines as opposed to hock bottle shape). No oak, no ML, 11.8% alc, screwcap. On the back label I have a bar graph illustrating "sweet...off-dry...dry" with a check mark next to "dry". The response has been very favorable, oh and it was a SF Chronicle Top 100 Wine and got a bunch of "90's". It is called Pey-Marin Vineyards "The Shell Mound". www.marinwines.com Cheers.

By JPey at Fri, 05/09/2008 - 12:18pm | login or register to post comments

dry Riesling

Good dialogue. The consumer is totally confused about Riesling. I grow and produce about 350 cases of on organically farmed Riesling in western Marin County, CA. It is 11.8 alc and only 4 grams/liter of RS with pH about 3.19. I have been told it could be the driest in North America. I have added a bar graph on the back label noting "sweet...off-dry...dry" with a notation on "dry". I bottle it (screwcap) in a tall bordeaux bottle which I think helps it say "dry". It is Pey-Marin Vineyards "The Shell Mound" Riesling and last year won Top 100 from SF Chronicle and multiple "90+" scores from the traditional mags. More details at www.marinwines.com or give me your email and I can email you the back label. Cheers.

By JPey at Fri, 05/09/2008 - 6:58am | login or register to post comments

Rieslings/residual sugar tip

As I am sure many people do, when buying rieslings that aren't labeled as dry or off dry, I always look at the alcohol content. It it is in the 12.5% range or higher, chances are that it is dry. Over 13% and it is certain to be dry. In the 11.5% to 12% range, it is probably off-dry, and anything below 11.5% is going to be sweeter, probably in the 1.5-2.5% residual sugar range. I haven't seen many rieslings that are over 2.5% residual sugar that aren't labeled as such. For spicy Thai food, I look for something around 12% alcohol, which usually has just enough sugar to off-set the heat. For sushi, I look for 12.5% or preferably higher (or a sauvignon/fume' blanc or an unoaked chardonnay). Hope that helps!

Tim

By timinspokane at Thu, 05/08/2008 - 6:37am | login or register to post comments

You could throw

You could throw Gewuztraminer into this discussion as well. We make a Gewurzt from Evergreen Vinyard near George WA and it is almost bone dry (.56 g/L RS, no ML, 12.7% Alc). I have to almost talk people into trying it in my tasting room, but once they do, and they see that it is not a dessert wine (not that their is anything wrong with a late harvest gewurzt) they go crazy over it. It is THE perfect wine for spicy foods such as Indian curries, Thai, BBQ, and even Mexican here in town. Also quite nice when it is 100 degrees, sipping by the pool!

Trey

By wallawallapj at Tue, 05/13/2008 - 5:23pm | login or register to post comments

RS in Rieslings

Tim,

Unfortunately, almost all the Rieslings in our judging (except for the obvious dessert wines) do not indicate residual sugar anywhere on the label. In fact, of the 85 I've put in the database so far, exactly one indicated residual sweetness on the label. Perhaps a half-dozen were labeled as "dry" and three or four were "late-harvest" Rieslings.

Your tip on looking at alcohol is a good one. However, I am seeing a number of wines in the 4% residual sugar range that are 12-12.5% alcohol, so even that isn't foolproof.

We need wineries to include more information on their front or back labels to give consumers a clue about the wines. They don't need to play the guessing game with Chardonnay or (usually) Sauvignon Blanc. They shouldn't need to with Riesling, either.

By aperdue at Thu, 05/08/2008 - 7:04am | login or register to post comments

massive residual sugar?

Wow Andy - I stand corrected! I have never seen a riesling with 4% rs in the 12.5% range, although I did see a dry riesling blend at a whopping 14.7% alcohol last weekend in Walla Walla. I suppose that if that wine were at 12.5% alcohol, it would have considerable residual sugar. Are the growers getting their riesling that ripe these days? If so, I will certainly have to rethink my strategy of looking at the alcohol content. Thanks for the info and the alert on the subject!

Tim

By timinspokane at Thu, 05/08/2008 - 8:36am | login or register to post comments

Riesling marketing problem

I think you nailed the problem, Andy. The producers should come up with some meaninful terms for the general public (for those wines intended for the general public) -- perhaps "dry," "semi-dry or semi-sweet", and "sweet," -- and also include sugar and alcohol levels for the more savvy consumer (if marketing to them). And why use the word "white"?

By andyplymale at Thu, 05/08/2008 - 7:45pm | login or register to post comments

White Riesling

White Riesling is the proper name for the variety, I believe. There are many varieties of Riesling, including one called Gray Riesling.

There's also one called Okanagan Riesling, though it's a hideous grape that is not a Riesling. It isn't even vinifera. It was grown in B.C.'s Okanagan Valley prior to 1989. A few plants still exist, I believe.

I've noticed that some wineries, primarily in Oregon, list the wine as White Riesling.

By aperdue at Fri, 05/09/2008 - 9:07am | login or register to post comments

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