Grape expectations: Riesling

Adam Withrington's series on wine varietals turns to riesling, a grape that does not get the recognition it deserves from customers - probably because of its German heritage.

This is the fifth in a series of features focusing on grape varietals. I am examining several of the major grapes to see how they can benefit sales of wine in pubs.

There is nothing worse than going into a pub, ordering a bottle of red wine to share for the next hour and getting something so heavy it puts you off for life. In the same way when a customer wants a fruity, crisp white wine, it is important to make sure that is what they are given. The full extent of the opportunity that exists with wine is only just being seen.

It is all about providing the right wine for the right occasion and hopefully this series of articles is helping to strike this balance.

Having already looked at cabernet sauvignon, chardonnay and shiraz and pinot grigio, it is now the turn of riesling. It is a grape that does not get the recognition it deserves from customers - probably because of its German heritage. But, as you will discover, it's well worth giving it a chance.

Adam WithringtonDrinks reporter

German wine. What comes to mind when you start to think of our Teutonic friends and the grape? Sweet? Sickly?

Pieseporter or, God forbid, liebfraumilch? Sad as it is, no matter what the Germans do with wine these days they will never escape the fact that the mass-selling sweet white wines they produce are the butt of jokes the world over.

Where once they were as fashionable as Black Forest gateau, they are now as about as fashionable as, well Black Forest gateau.

Who can forget the moment in the BBC comedy series I'm Alan Partridge, when Alan, attempting to pass off as a wine connoisseur, asks a waiter for "half a bottle of Blue Nun"?

The roar of laughter from the audience (and the roll of the eyes from the man he is trying to impress) tells you everything you need to know about the popular perception of German wines.

Those wines popular from the 1970s and 80s now hang over the country like a menacing black cloud and many people seem to view its current wines with as much derision.

And this is a damn shame because a lot of German wine is actually pretty bloody good if you look beyond the jokes and the clichés. The grape at the centre of this excellence is riesling and sadly even its reputation has been dragged through the mire by these jokes and clichés.

Now while it would be very wrong of me in this 21st century world of wine to suggest that all rieslings are from Germany - the Australians, South Africans and Americans all do riesling very well - its heritage is all German. And Oz Clarke is pretty effusive about the grape's qualities. "Riesling may not be the world's most popular white wine grape, but there are many who would say it is the best. It is Germany's finest contribution to the world of wine," he enthuses.

The grape is believed to have originated on the vines of the Rhine Valley and Mosel and there is no doubt it produces fantastic wines. And yet it has not really caught on. According to September 2004 AC Nielsen figures it only makes up eight per cent of the on-trade wine market in the UK.

Jonathan Pedley, Master of Wine, believes it is the negative connection with Germany that is behind the slow take-up. "For most customers riesling is just unspeakably naff," he says. "Even when the liebfraumilch tide retreated a few years ago everything with a German label on it was hammered."

However, he also believes that plain lack of knowledge about the character of the grape is holding it back. He says: "If you offer a customer sauvignon blanc they know they are going to get a crisp, dry wine. Say chardonnay to them and they know they will get something a bit softer.

Put a pinot grigio in front of them and they know it will be a light wine. But when they hear riesling they don't know what they are going to get because its character can vary so much. Will it be sweet, dry, soft, medium? Is it a wine to be enjoyed on its own or with food? And this is the massive problem the grape faces." So how to tackle this problem? Increase you knowledge of the grape and then interact with your customers. "Riesling needs to be hand sold," says Jonathan. So open a bottle and offer a "try a before you buy". Get people interested in riesling: how its strength is its ability over time to retain its acidity, how it has very little done to it in production - unlike the mass oak ageing of chardonnay - and how it ages better than most of its rivals.

You could add another dimension to your wine offer - because those who have discovered its charms have fallen for it hook, line and sinker.

"Aged riesling is my god. It develops gorgeous honeycomb, orange blossom and smouldering petrolly aromas" - Andrew Catchpole, food and wine writer​

"I'm willing to concede that, at its best, riesling is the greatest white [grape] variety of them all" - Tim Atkin MW, wine writer, The Observer​

• North America:​ Riesling is widely planted in California, although the wines tend to be on the sweet side, and in the north of the US good examples come from the cooler climates of Washington State and Oregon. You could also do worse than look at what the Canadians have to offer.

France:​ The Alsace region is the first (and most would say only) place to look for a top quality riesling in France - although the region tends to mainly produce dry examples.

Germany:​ The very best rieslings come from Germany - particularly the Rhine and Mosel regions. Rieslings from the Mosel tend to be crisp and dry, while the riper, fuller wines tend to be from the Baden and Pfalz regions.

Italy:​ There are a few good examples, such as in the Alto Adige region, but watch out for wines such as riesling Italico, which are not true rieslings. In fact there are several wines from across Europe (particularly old Eastern bloc countries) like Welsch riesling, Laskai riesling and Osal riesling, which are riesling in name only.

Austria:​ Oz Clarke says to look out for Austrian riesling from the valleys of the Danube such as the Wachau, Kamptal and Donauland regions. They tend to be fuller tasting with higher alcohol content than their German cousins.

South Africa:​ You can find a smattering of rieslings from South Africa, such as in the Elgin and Constantia regions on the Cape. However, the country
is not a major player as far as this grape variety is concerned.

Australia:​ Riesling is grown all over Australia but the contrasting climates mean that quality varies. Oz Clarke says the best come from regions "blessed with cold nights, which yield wines that have a fresh limey streak or acidity" such as the Clare Valley, Eden Valley and Margaret River.

New Zealand:​ Very much seen as an up-and-comer in the world of riesling by writers such as Oz Clarke, although he does believe that there is a lot of potential yet to be fully realised with the grape on North and South Islands.

Waverley TBS's top 10 rieslings​

The riesling grape is believed to be indigenous to Germany and can, in terms of quality and style, compete with any wine in the world. It can be traced back as f