January, 2011

—by Dan Berger Americans are notorious for saying they like dry wine but drinking sweet wine. For verification, look at the success over the years of Lambrusco, wine coolers, White zinfandel, the vast amounts of sweeter Chardonnay, the high-alcohols of many red wines (example: Zinfandel), and the fact that the bone-dry, crisp wines of Europe [...]

New Zealand is a couple of long skinny Islands in the South Pacific. Stretched out on a map of the northern hemisphere it would reach from Denmark to Italy, or if you like from Washington State to California. It comes as no surprise then that NZ Riesling can range in style from bone dry and [...]

Alsace, France The 2010 vintage was truly one of a kind. Despite challenging weather conditions, Alsace’s wine professionals are satisfied that the final product is up to the expected high standard.  Initial reports indicate a good degree of freshness across all wines and excellent typicity, but with a significant fall in yields compared to previous [...]

One of the world’s most beautiful and famous Riesling-producing regions is the Mosel in Germany, with that winding river flanked by hillside vineyards. The German government is building an enormous bridge right in the middle of it, which will have devastating consequences for the hallowed wine region. Dan Berger described the dilemma, and its parallels [...]

Rieslings from around the world continue to attract more attention and high scores in major consumer magazines, like The Wine Enthusiast (December 31 edition). Wine Enthusiast Dec 31, The Enthusiast 100 95 Poet’s Leap 2009 Riesling (Columbia Valley) 95 Emmerich Knoll 2008 Ried Schütt Riesling Smaragd (Wachau) 94 D’Aremberg 2008 The Noble Wrinkled Riesling (McLaren [...]