Wine Talk | Canterbury News | Local News in Canterbury

Thought by many wine lovers to be the world's best white wine grape, rieslings flourish in Canterbury. This is partly because we have a very long, cool autumn with big differences between day and night time temperatures and partly, I suspect, because riesling is a cool weather grape varietal flourishing in good years near the limit of grape growing.

Rieslings originate from the middle Rhine area, north of Frankfurt and also make excellent and robust wines in the Saar, Mosel and Ruwer valleys in seasons which have enough sunshine.

In warm to hot summers after plentiful spring rain and in the South Island of New Zealand the grapes can be left on the vines quite late as they have small, thick skinned berries which are slightly oily and "turn" the rain.

The leaves go a glorious golden colour and then fall off, sometimes leaving speckled berries hanging in longish bunches.

In good years the berries have complex flavours and the wines very complex aromas with floral overtones, honeysuckle and citrus smells.

Younger rieslings may need 20 minutes in the 4 degree compartment of the fridge but older (3-5 years plus) develop lovely apricot and stone fruit aromas which will be lost when over chilled.

In the mouth grapefruit, lemon and lime flavours must be present, layers of fruit and a really long, persistent end palate ? derived from the tangy acid ? is essential in any good reisling.

When young, dry rieslings (less than 4gm sugar per litre) are hard and unyielding. So most rieslings are made off-dry with 6-15gm of residual sugar.

In hard, cold years when the final acid content is too high, residual sugars may be left up to about 30gm, giving a seemingly balanced wine.

Drink it almost any time. It is ideal sitting in the garden or before lunch or dinner with friends. A glass of good dryish riesling with zingy acid can be a great pick up after a stressful day ? such as overhead pruning or handmowing a large lawn!

Recently the Waipara winemakers ran a very successful wine tasting here in town and so provided a great chance to taste Canterbury's best white wine grape, mostly from the outstanding 2004 season.

The following comments are from personal notes and not from a masked tasting:

Floating Mountain Riesling 2004 (RRP $18.95): Scheurebe variant of riesling ? light alcohol, medium sweet, great flavours from shrivelled berries.

Fiddlers Green medium dry 2004 Riesling (RRP $19.50): lime and lemon nose ? some Indian tonic water overtones on a very long, clean palate. Excellent wine for development in 2-5 years.

Daniel Schuster 2003 Riesling (RRP $20): the first riesling for some time from one of New Zealand's pinot masters. Beautiful gold colour, strong, limey nose, very fruity in a very long palate, nice minerality.

Mt Cass Riesling 2004 (RRP $22): A big wine, robust 8gm residual sugar and 13% alcohol.

Sherwood Clearwater Riesling 2004 (RRP $22): their top label, made for export, with concentrated fruit, 12% alcohol and 8gm residual sugar, concentrated length. Sherwood Estate 2004 (RRP $16.95) 12.4% alcohol and 15gm residual sugar. An easily approachable wine, drinking well now with ripe fruit flavours, good balance ? all clean Waipara fruit.

Pegasus Bay 2004 Riesling (RRP $24): 11% alcohol and 30gm residual sugar, but enough minerality and concentrated lime/citrus fruit ? layered in the mouth into a formidable structure. Very big and long finish ? with such balance, a benchmark for Waipara riesling in hottish years.