Learn About Riesling
What Is Riesling?
Riesling is an aromatic white wine grape variety that yields a floral white wine with fruit flavors. The riesling grape originated in the Rhine River region, which runs throughout parts of Germany, France, Austria, and Switzerland.
Common characteristics of riesling wines include light body and aromas of citrus, stone fruit, white flowers, and petrol. Due to its naturally high acidity, Riesling is one of the most popular varieties used to produce late harvest wines.
Riesling Types
- Acidic grape varietals like riesling are often made into wines with a touch of sweetness to balance their natural acidity. In Germany, riesling wine labels indicate the ripeness (and therefore sweetness) of the grapes when they were picked, with five different levels:
- Kabinett (bone dry to off-dry)
- Spätlese (sweet)
- Auslese (sweeter)
- Beerenauslese (very sweet)
- rockenbeerenauslese (sweetest)