Imagine starting the day with a bowl of oatmeal followed by a chaser of fourteen different Rieslings. That’s what I’m doing this morning, at the opening event of the third Riesling Rendezvous. This event, dedicated to furthering the understanding of Riesling, is co-hosted by Chateau Ste. Michelle, the Washington state winery (arguably the premier
Riesling producer in the United States) and Dr. Loosen, an esteemed estate in Germany’s Mosel region.
Riesling is likely the least understood, most undervalued of all the world’s so called noble grapes. Misconceptions about Riesling are rampant. Ask people about it and they’ll tell you that Riesling is always sweet. Riesling is confusing, they’ll say, and it doesn’t age well. Some wine drinkers will insist that German Rieslings are superior to Riesling from the new world, while other folks will insist that only the new world knows how to make fresh, approachable Riesling. In the hopes of untangling some of this confusion, I’ve come to Washington state, where Riesling Rendezvous is unfolding.
Events kicked off with the Grand Tasting at Chateau St. Michelle, a walk-around nosh-and-sip event open to both consumers and wine trade professionals. Dozens of vintners from all well known regions (France, Germany, Australia) and smaller players such as Michigan and Canada are pouring their wines. It is fun and festive, and a great introduction to the rest of the Rendezvous.
So this morning, after wolfing down breakfast, I’m sitting down with the other Rendezvous attendees to taste these fourteen dry Rieslings from around the world. The wines are, of course, tasted blind, so like everyone else, I’m trying to figure out which are old world wines and which come from the new world. In my case, anyway, it proves a humbling experience. In my tasting notes, for example, I describe one 
wine as “light, delicate, very crisp–probably from a cool growing region in the US.” Nice try, but it turns out to be from New Zealand’s Villa Maria Estate. I’m clueless when it comes to a stupendously long, juicy and balanced wine (Bründlemayer Heilingenstein 2008, as it turns out).
And so it goes, I’m right about some of the wines’ origins, wrong about others. But what I do take away from the experience is a heightened appreciation for the extraordinary range of stylistic diversity that the Riesling grape can yield. And here’s something else I take away: the notion that perhaps these old world/new world distinctions are no longer valid. That’s the beauty of events like this, where participants not only taste fabulous (and occasionally not-so-fabulous wines), and meet producers from all over the world–what some of us also do is try to do is open our minds to new ways of thinking about and appreciating wine. I remember one of the things that Riesling importer Terry Thiese said at the last Riesling Rendezvous: “Form impressions but do not invest in maintaining them in order to have been ‘right.’ Listen to the wines, and follow their stories.” Good advice for us all. In addition to tasting a lot of now, I’m also going to try to listen to their stories.
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[WRO is at Riesling Rendezvous in force, with more attendees than any other wine publication. On site with Marguerite Thomas are contributors Paul Lukacs, Michael Apstein, Linda Murphy, W. Blake Gray, and Michael Franz, along with occasional contributor Rebecca Murphy. For more on the world’s premier Riesling symposium and the best of the wines showcased there, stay tuned.]
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