Riesling

Riesling is an aromatic white grape grown across Germany's Mosel, Nahe, and Rhine regions, as well as Austria and the New World, where slate, loam, and volcanic soils leave a pronounced mineral imprint on the finished wine. The grape's naturally high acidity allows winemakers to produce everything from bone-dry Trocken expressions, as with Wechsler and Gruber Roschitz, to lusciously sweet Spätlese bottlings like Dönnhoff's Norheimer Kirschheck. Classic Mosel producers Max Ferd Richter and Dr. Loosen demonstrate how site-specific terroir shapes steely, petrol-edged wines with low alcohol, while Argyle's Nuthouse shows Oregon's capacity for structured, age-worthy Riesling. Hollow Wines' skin-contact interpretation represents a textural departure from the varietal norm. The Schmitges non-alcoholic bottling extends the category's range further still.