Riesling

White variety - Riesling

• General: Riesling is thought to have evolved from a natural cross between Heunisch and the native wild vine Vitis-Silvestris. Riesling is the flagship of the German white wine landscape. More than half of the world's 39,000 hectares under cultivation are in Germany. In fact, the Palatinate is the largest Riesling region in the world with 5,545 ha planted, followed by the USA (4,700 ha), Australia (4,450 ha), New Zealand (950 ha), Austria (1,650 ha), France (3,500 ha) and Moldova (2,400 ha).
• Cultivation: The grape is small and shouldered. Classic Riesling clones are often dense-grained. Newer selections emphasise loose berries in favour of higher botrytis resistance. The small, round berries with black dots on the berry skin are green-yellow and turn yellow-brown as they ripen or on the sunny side.
• Wine: The variation of Riesling wines is infinitely diverse. It ranges from fruity, fresh wines with lively acidity to late-harvest wines with aromas of apple, peach, citrus and often shows nuances of herbs, nuts and honey, underpinned by a fruity acidity and ripe tannin structure. Especially long-lived are noble sweet qualities, from Beerenauslese to Eiswein.
• Cultivation: Due to its late ripening, Riesling makes high demands on site and microclimate. It reacts sensitively to individual characteristics of soils, sites and microclimate. When exposed to extreme UV light, Riesling tends to sunburn and phenolics. In unfavourable years, stem paralysis can occur. The growth is medium to strong and upright. Due to its drought tolerance, it is successfully cultivated on weathered rock soils in terraced and steep sites, such as slate soils of the Moselle, Rotliegend on the Rhine front, sandstone weathering in the Palatinate or gneiss rocks of the Wachau.