Lovers of comeback stories who thought Mickey Rourke’s performance in “The Wrestler” could never be topped might take a fresh look at Riesling. Rumors of a resurgence have popped up every so often over the last two years. Today, while the economy tanks and consumer priorities shift to values and bargains, Riesling may be able to sustain the momentum and emerge as the hands down favorite for the comeback award of 2010.
Winemakers from Napa, Oregon, Monterey, Washington, Alsace, Texas, New Zealand, Michigan and Mendocino converged on Boonville in Mendocino’s Anderson Valley over the weekend of February 20-22. The draw was definitely not the area’s night life but was in fact the 4th Annual International Alsace Varietals Festival. Over the weekend, three dozen wineries poured Gewurztraminer, Riesling, Pinot Gris, Pinot Blanc and even a Muscat or two.
With over 350 people attending, this well-organized event allows you to chat with winemakers about the wines and trends. Along with a few opulent Gewurztraminers and several delicious bottlings of Pinot Gris, the most talked-about varietal was Riesling.
Without question, seekers of hand-crafted dry and racy Rieslings need only look to the tiny Anderson Valley appellation to uncover a mini treasure trove. The 2007 Rieslings from Navarro, Lazy Creek, Greenwood Ridge, Esterlina, and Handley are top-notch. But frankly, there’s not a whole lot to go around.
So what about the big picture of Riesling around the country? First of all, there’s no denying Riesling has been down on the mat and kicked around for a long time. On the West Coast, the dramatic acreage changes over the last three decades chronicle its fortune. California had 10,000 acres planted to Riesling in 1980. By 1990, when Chardonnay was ascending, Riesling acreage dipped to 5,000. After falling below 2,000 acres, Riesling has bounced back with new vineyards bringing today’s total over 2,800. In 1980, Washington State was almost all Riesling, but the demand dwindled steadily over the years. But about five years ago Riesling rose from the dead, and in 2008 more Riesling was crushed in Washington than Chardonnay.
As for the wine, ‘Sales have definitely been trending upward,’ says Jim Caudill of Brown-Forman (Fetzer, Jekel and others). Fetzer’s Valley Oaks medium sweet Riesling topped the 100,000 cases mark last year. The Nielsen (scan data) which primarily tracks supermarket type sales shows healthy increases for Riesling nationally. Washington’s Ste. Michelle and sister brands have now surpassed 1 million cases. Randall Grahm’s Pacific Rim has been spun off into a solo operation. Now headquartered in Washington State, it is off and running at 140,000 cases. Kendall Jackson is also over 100,000, and in Monterey, where the vast majority of California’s Riesling is planted, winemakers at Jekel, J.Lohr, Wente and Ventana are all re-learning the words to ‘Happy Days are Here Again.’
But if there is a resurgence and comeback underway, why now? The fact is curious, since we are in an era of red wines, so I asked around. Peter McCrea of Stony Hill (making Riesling since 1958) cites several reasons for its revival. ‘First, I think American wine drinkers are getting more sophisticated in their tastes and are ready now to try new things. Second, in the major metropolitan areas, the cuisine is much more varied and sophisticated, meaning there are more foods available that are good matches for Riesling.’
Michigan was represented at the Festival by three wineries from the highly-touristed Traverse City region. Spencer Stegenga of Michigan’s Bowers Harbor Vineyards suggests, ‘One of the reasons that Riesling consumption is on the rise is that we have a whole new generation of consumers in our country that grew up with wine on the table and seem to be very apt to try new things and maybe not necessarily drink what their parents did, ‘Chardonnay.’
Harry Peterson-Nedry of Chehalem, who speaks for Oregon Riesling quite well, adds, ‘The time is right to raise Riesling’s awareness because of a heightened interest in food and its complementary need for the right wine (read a wine with acid). Also, because of writers, sommeliers and wine buyers now being willing to come out of the closet and admit their preference for Riesling in their personal lives; and finally because great Riesling is now being made worldwide by passionate winemakers.’
Riesling’s champions definitely know how to talk the passion-and-commitment talk. Though the winery’s Chardonnays are legendary, Stony Hill’s McCrea boldly declares ‘Riesling is a more complex and interesting wine than Chardonnay. From the Willamette Valley, Peterson-Nedry adds, ‘Riesling is the best white wine for food, to reflect terroir nuances that are exceptionally interesting [I think of Riesling as the Pinot Noir of white wines in that respect], and for aging.’
Stegenga from Michigan loves its diversity and calls it, ‘The best white grape on the planet. We have such flexibility with this varietal that…essentially you could build a winery around this one variety with all of the different styles in which this grape can be produced.’
In 1974 Ted Bennett, a staunch believer in terroir long before the concept entered the wine public’s lexicon, established Navarro Vineyards in the Anderson Valley precisely to produce Riesling and other Alsatian varietals. ‘The great plus of Riesling is that it can be made into a variety of wines varying greatly in sweetness, alcohol and balance.’ At Navarro, he has fine-tuned a style that is definitely Alsatian.
‘In terms of aroma, most New World Rieslings tend to rely heavily on those fruity, but fleeting esters…but we like to keep our wine on the gross lees to add a yeasty note to Riesling. The yeastiness is perhaps a little like Champagne, or like Alsatian wines which typically hint of charcuterie. In our estimation the improved mouth-feel and complexity more than offset the slightly lower level of young wine esters.’
During the Festival, I tasted four older Rieslings which have indeed aged well. Alan Green of Greenwood Ridge offered his 1980 Riesling, the inaugural vintage that is still alive, balanced, with lovely aged complexity. Stony Hill’s 1992 Riesling was fabulous and could age another decade. Navarro poured two older Rieslings, 1998 Deep End and 2002 Deep End. Both were rich, with great length on the palate and showing a touch of petrol in the aroma which is said to be a sign of nicely-aged Riesling.
All four older wines were made in a dry style, but the Festival’s technical seminars devoted considerable attention to the issue of sweetness levels. Every winemaker agrees that the downside of Riesling’s versatility is that many are produced on the sweet side.
‘Sweet is a negative word for US wine drinkers and since the perception is that Rieslings are sweet, few consumers consider selecting Riesling if it is offered on a wine list,’ noted Bennett. At Esterlina, Stephen Sterling explained that at first they produced only dry Riesling, but so many consumers expected it to be sweet that the winery now offers both a dry and off-dry (1.5% r.s.).
Fetzer’s Valley Oaks Riesling is medium sweet, but the winery notes its sales are soaring in the Midwestern states. Ventana Vineyards’ 2007 award-winning Riesling has 1.9% r.s., but with its low pH does not taste very sweet. Yet it came across as sweeter to me than the 2007 Eroica, (the fabulous wine from the joint venture between Ste. Michelle and Dr. Loosen) that contains 2.1% residual. The preconception of Riesling as a sweet wine is difficult to counter when the perception of sweetness can vary from person to person and the wineries provide no guidelines.
But now there is new hope for some useful guidelines. I was advised by good friend and colleague Dan Berger to check out the International Riesling Foundation through its informative website www.drinkriesling.com. An association of winemakers and Riesling fanatics from all wine producing regions (Berger is a founding member), the Foundation is dedicated to improving Riesling’s image.
Simply stated, the Riesling Foundation’s vision is this: ‘Riesling wines will be recognized and demanded internationally as one of the world’s most noble wines due to their diversity of styles, regional character, consistent quality, and compatibility with food.’ The Foundation also organizes the annual ‘Riesling Rendezvous,’ a symposium sponsored by Ste. Michelle and Germany’s Ernst Loosen that brings together winemakers from around the world who meet at Chateau Ste. Michelle in Washington.
Back to the sticky problem of sweet wines. In 2007 a committee at the Riesling Rendezvous in Washington took on the Riesling challenge and offered a set of guidelines to deal with levels of sweetness in Rieslings. To help winemakers consider which terms to use for various wines, the committee developed a technical chart of parameters involving the interplay of sugar, acid, and pH which helps determine the probable taste profile of a particular wine. Another key step in the project was to identify appropriate terms for describing the relative dryness or sweetness of the wine. After extensive deliberations, the four designations to emerge are: Dry, Medium Dry, Medium Sweet, and Sweet.
Though this system is voluntary, a number of wineries belonging to the Riesling Foundation have adopted this back label terminology. Jekel added it to its 2007 Riesling which though falling into the Medium Dry category still drinks like a friendly food companion. So far this strikes me as a useful system. Most of us, I suspect, would be very comfortable enjoying a Dry or Medium Dry Riesling with food. Chehalem plans to use the back label term on its 2008 Riesling and if others fall in, the primary negative side to Riesling will begin to disappear.
But to be honest, it appears that we have a way to go before Riesling is crowned the comeback king. As Janet Trefethen put it succinctly, Riesling sales are ‘finally enjoying a nice wave, but it is no tsunami.’
What is likely to sustain Riesling over the next year or so is its appeal to bargain hunters. Chateau Ste. Michelle’s beautifully rendered, delicious 2007 Dry Riesling is an incredible bargain at $10. So too is its top end, deluxe ’07 Eroica at $25. From Monterey, Jekel’s ’07 is bargain priced at $14. If you can find it, Chateau Grande Traverse’s 2007 Dry Riesling is a steal at $13. In the Anderson Valley, where my search began, superb dry 2007 Rieslings from Navarro and Handley Cellars are priced at $19.
Though imports were not my focus, if the 2008 Penfolds Hyland Riesling which retails for $14 is what we can expect from other Australian Riesling, then Riesling may be the best bargain around.