Riesling Reflections:
New Zealand Riesling

—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 do best in New York and decline in sales radically the further west you go.

(Many New Yorkers were reared on the drier styles of wine they had access to from Europe, and haven’t had as much access to California’s sun-drenched, ultra-ripe wines for as
long.) So when the term Dry Riesling began to crop up a few years ago on the wine lists at chichi restaurants, ideally paired with the proper foods, it was a challenge to get people to actually try them. Sure, the gatekeepers understood these wines, and loved them, but the broad market was another story.

“When I’m at a walk-around tasting,” said one Riesling producer, “it’s like pulling teeth to get consumers to try my dry Riesling. What I often hear is, “Oh, Riesling, that’s gonna be sweet, right?’ It’s really frustrating.” As a result some of the finest bone dry Rieslings, including some fabulous efforts from Australia, are today only seen as a wine for the in crowd.

Yet it is New Zealand that, very quietly, has been on quite a roll with its “dry” Rieslings over the last five years.

The word dry here is used in quotation marks because actually the wines aren’t, strictly speaking, completely dry. Most of them contain a trace of residual sugar, but there is a vital reason for this.

The reason is acid. New Zealand is an island nation in the middle of a giant ocean, and as such as a strong maritime influence that leaves most wine with a plethora of acidity. This markedly cooler climate than most other wine-growing regions in the world leaves Riesling completely at risk to be so austere that no one would drink it if made with no residual sugar. The angularity and austerity would be off-putting.

To ameliorate the naturally higher acidity, New Zealand wine makers could do a number of things to make a richer and softer wine. Yet they know that such ideas would compromise the wines’ natural flavors.

One would be to add sugar to the fermentation to make a higher-alcohol wine. Another would be to add chemicals to raise the pH. Neither tactic makes a better wine.

As a result, most New Zealand Rieslings contain a bit more sugar, which harmonizes with the bracing acidity. The result is a wine with a trace of perceptible sugar in the entry (the first taste of the wine), but the acid then takes over, making the wines balanced and crisp in the finish.

Such terrific wines are now being widely seen as great matches with crab and more delicate seafood dishes, notably those made with a light cream sauce.

The majority of these wines come from the cooler South Island, and the names of the top producers are still new to most Americans. So the game to get the best is in its infancy.

The demand for New Zealand whites has grown rapidly in the United States. In the last 12 years, New Zealand has increased its plantings of its primary three aromatic grapes, Riesling, Gewurztraminer, and Pinot Gris, fourfold — outstripping all other varietal grapes, including the popular Sauvignon Blanc and Pinot Noir.

Mainly, this is a strategy based on Kiwis’ knowledge of the interest of U.S. gatekeepers.

And Americans are catching on to these fine wines. NZ Riesling sales in the United States have grown some 50% since the early 2000s, and the growth is accelerating. In the last 12 months, New Zealand Riesling sales increased a whopping 50%, admittedly from a small base, and shipments rose an incredible 234% in December compared with December 2009..

The benefits of these wines are:

• Lower alcohols for some rather intensely aromatic wines. (Some wines are coming in well under 10%!)
• Aromas that have a bit more of the stone fruit and tropical fruit notes that are not similar to other countries’ Rieslings.
• An early drinkability because of the trace amounts of sugar.
• Bottle longevity since these wines are made with bracing natural acidity and retain their low pH levels, so vital for aging the wines.

And as a final bonus, almost every New Zealand Riesling being sold in the United States is screwcapped, which makes it easier to access the liquid.

New Zealand Riesling is a category to watch.