Riesling
Winelovers and winemakers the world over consider Riesling one of the noblest grapes for a number of obvious reasons. First for its transparency, i.e: its ability to create distinctive wines that express the soils and conditions in which it was grown; second for its ability to make superb wines whether dry, sweet, in-between or sparkling; thirdly for its ability to age brilliantly for many years: the noble white wine trifecta. Associated historically with Germany where it is considered their best grape, bar none, it has found symbiotic terroirs in almost every wine growing country across the globe, making distinct and prized local variations of renown. There are especially superb Rieslings of note produced in Alsace, Austria, New Zealand, Australia and Ontario, Canada. Riesling’s secret is taut acidity that the grape retains even when ripened to dessert wine sugar levels. When young, the dryer versions have bright lime and grapefruit citrus aromas and flavours that soften with age to rich peach stone fruit leavened with lemon. Sweeter wines often have a distinct and exquisite expression of apricot. All of them seem to have the ability to transmit aromas that speak to the soils they were grown in, whether German slate, Alsatian granite, Austrian sandstone or Ontarian limestone. Sublime.