APPEARANCE ON THE VINE:
round, medium-sized white grapes – berries compactly clustered in small, cylindrical bunches.
IN THE GLASS:
colour ranges from pale straw to yellow-gold when mature or in sweeter style.

SMELL
The variety usually offers a bouquet of one or more of the following: apple, floral/rose, honeysuckle and lime… In the same aromatic family as Gewürztraminer, Bukettraube and the Muscats, Riesling is often redolent of honeyed peach, apricot, pear, litchi fruit and spices: cinnamon, clove and ginger. Kerosene-like terpenes show with age.

TASTE
A versatile varietal, it is made in off-dry to semi-sweet styles, almost always without wood treatment, and may have a light, delicate, low alcohol palate but with layers of concentrated fruit in the best examples. Maturity brings a pungent, unambiguous waxiness with terpene whiffs.

ORIGIN
Germany, as far back as the 15th century, though today Riesling occurs throughout most of the winemaking world. Famed Rieslings emanate from the areas of Alsace, the Rhine and Mosel (the latter two renowned for their Trockenbeerenausleses, the ultra-sweet, usually botrytised wine from Germany).

IN SOUTH AFRICA
First imported and experimented with by Nietvoorbij in the 1960s, Riesling was planted in commercial quantities from 1974 – plantings remain scarce, though (less than 1% of the Cape’s total area under vine). Most local Riesling is made off-dry, with some delicious dessert wines in the Noble Late Harvest (Botrytis) or Natural Sweet styles, and bears the qualifying Weisser or Rhine tag that distinguishes it from the lesser Cape version, Crouchen Blanc, which is usually labelled Cape or SA Riesling.

ELSEWHERE IN THE WORLD
Austria produces some good expressions of the variety, and Riesling is also to be found in the USA, Canada, Australia, New Zealand, South America.

BEST EXAMPLES
From Alsace: Marc Krydenweiss, Zind Humbrecht. From the Rhine(gau): Robert Weil, Langwerth. From Mosel/Saar: Von Kesselstatt, Von Schubert. In the Cape, top dessert wines from Riesling include Buitenverwachting, Neethlingshof, Paul Cluver.

AGEING POTENTIAL
Riesling is regarded by many as the most noble white variety because of its maturation potential and resulting complexity in the bottle – far superseding that of a wooded Chardonnay in the case of the best examples.

MATCHING WITH FOOD
Dry Riesling: lightly spiced or curried foods, stir-fries. Sweeter Riesling: pork, chicken, meats with fruity sauces, nut or apple tarts and desserts.

SERVING TEMPERATURE
Dry and semi-sweet: 8° to 14° C. Dessert wines: between 8° and 10° C.