Anyone who was of a ‘drinking age’ (or not quite) in the late 1970s and the 1980s is prone to wince and groan at the mention of ‘riesling’ (the grape variety) or ‘Moselle’ (actually Mosel, an area in Germany that grows a lot of it). The very words instantly evoke memories of labels like Blue Nun, Black Tower, Liebfraumilch – labels we remember as being sweet, cheap and, well, unsophisticated.
By the end of the 1980s, a whole generation of baby boomers had decided that Riesling was very uncool and for the most part, they have never gone back.
But it turns out that an unreconstructed Riesling-phobia is the real sign of an unsophisticated wine palate!
The high profile British wine critic, Jancis Robinson, bemoans Riesling’s reputation, describing it as “the world’s greatest white wine grape”. And she is not alone. Start researching Riesling and you will find an army of wine experts keen to sing the considerable but unrecognised praises of the wine industry’s ugly duckling.
Read more here.
Read more here.
