Okay lovely good evening everyone and Welcome to the next in our series of Webinars which is on the Riesling grape Variety as I hope some of you have been Able to join some of the varieties in The last few weeks Pinot Noir Chardonnay Cabernet Sauvignon have all had a go but Today it is just to introduce myself Briefly before I get started my name is Julia Lambeth I’m normally in the Classroom in front of people talking to About wine obviously that’s all the Books right now so happy to be here in Front of you actually and to talk to you About Riesling so I will confess just Before I start this I ended up becoming A bit of a manifesto for Riesling as I Was planning it just you know think yeah Put a few facts about reusing together a Bit of history business bit of that and It’s basically gonna be me saying musing Is the best everyone should drink Wheezing so you have been warned so a Few different aspects of reasoning to Cover I want to think about the Characteristics of the grape think about Where it’s growing styles of wine around The world obviously I can’t cover Everywhere in the world so if only Planning to do go for about an hour so Forgive me if I’m so here we’re gonna Start with a bit of an introduction to Reasoning as a grape variety so we’ve Got a few few terms there which often
Think about when we talk about reasoning Undervalued absolutely so given that It’s one of the white grape varieties That is capable of producing some of the Most complex most age worthy wines in The world it often gets a little bit Overlooked mispronounced certainly I Think we all probably right Riseling until we were corrected and Told it was in fact reasoning and it Doesn’t really help the least of the Great variety if many of us trying to Enjoy it can’t actually say it properly Misunderstood I put there as well I like I said it’s a bit of a sad tale for Reading and misunderstood I think Largely because there is an association With sweet wines for reasoning Absolutely can produce sweet wines it Makes some delicious sweet wines I know Some of you drinking some some of those Tonight but it also makes dry wines It makes media – it makes wines in all Levels of sweetness so for people to say They don’t really like resyncs they Don’t like sweet wines it’s a bit of a Simplification and it proves that you Don’t necessarily everyone understands The full range there’s also a kind of Misconception around reasoning due to The fact that a few other grape Varieties were created that sound like Wheezing but are not as good so things Like Welsh Riesling lack series there’s
A few different varieties that have the Word Riesling in the name but are not Actually reasoning and they don’t Produce wines they’re as good and so you Can understand how that can get Confusing I think the other reason it Became misunderstood was due to I’m also Going to say lower quality German wines Being produced a few decades ago amusing Is of course a German variety I’ll talk A little bit more about the history Shortly but there’s been an assumption That a lot of the way that wines that Come out from Germany must be Riesling And of course that’s not true so when a Few of the bigger brand but lower Quality journal wines came out a few Decades ago they were incredibly Successful commercially and but they Didn’t again do anything for the Reputation of Riesling and people Assumed it was reasoning when it was not So reasons had A bit of an uphill PR battle for the Last couple of decades but of course it Hasn’t always been like this we will Look back at the history Germany in Particular where you know abusing was One of the most highly for some people Of course still is the most highly Regarded – white wines in the world it’s A little bit more in terms of the Introduction so Riesling is an aromatic Grape variety so it makes ones that are
Aromatic wines that have more than just Fruit flavors so floral characteristics And sometimes spicy sometimes in mineral Notes it’s got a wide range of different Aroma and flavor characteristics that we Can expect and also express it so Riesling like many of the other grape Varieties that we’ve looked at so far in This series will change its aroma and Flavor characteristics its structure and Texture depending on where it’s been Grown depending on the soil that climate Depending on the winemaking techniques So we can get lots of variation in style From different reasoning wines the Varying levels of sweetness I’ve already Mentioned be a good thing or a bad thing In your book I would say a good thing Because it just means that we get even More different styles of wine it does Mean that it can be sometimes tricky to Know what to expect When you’re opening a bottle and I think Many people as consumers would like to Know before they taste the wine whether It’s going to have some sugar in it or Not so that’s been one of the challenges For easing and still is a challenge for Easing and then one of the the best Things about reasoning is its potential For ageing capable of ageing for decades And I think many people would argue that Wheezing has the best potential of Ageing out of any white grape variety in
The world I think I’ve noticed a few People sharing what they were tasting I Think the oldest vintage I’ve saw it’s 2009 so that’s that’s pretty good if You’ve got anything older than that feel Free to share and In the lifespan of most reasonings That’s still pretty young so the wines That are already 10 years old could Still potentially aged for longer and I Think that’s quite cool I quite like the Idea of keeping wines obviously you’ve Got by at least a few of each age a try After a few years Leave the rest try the next one a few Years later and just experience that Development think about how the wine Changes how it evolved zin the bottle The only thing that it’s difficult about That of course is having the willpower Not to open them too soon so next wanted To mention some of the characteristics Of Riesling as a grape variety so if You’ve done any of the WCT Qualifications before you’ll know that When we think about particular grape Varieties there are a number of Different characteristics and that we Can ascribe to each particular variety And then we can often think about how it Changes the wines change the growing Conditions change in different areas Around the world so if you key things About reasoning which are going to be
True anywhere first off it suited to Cool climates so when we think about Where reasoning grows Germany obviously Being the number one country but others As well these are regions that are Definitely cool but it’s a great variety That can handle cool as you can see There it is a cold hardy vine doesn’t Suffer too much in cool conditions it’s Also frost resistant so one of the big Challenges we know from growing grapes In cool climates is that frost risk Particularly in spring can have quite a Big damaging effect so if we’re looking At a grape variety and that is frost Resistant it means that it’s going to be All the better suited to their call It’s where we like to grow it alongside That we’ve got a great variety that is Late budding so when we talk about the Timing of budding it means when in the Springtime that the buds on the vine Open up that the new leaves shoots and Everything comes out so again thinking Back to that frost risk frost can occur Often earlier in the springtime not Always but often so if we have a variety That buds at it later it does put it Past the risk of maximum frost exposure So again that’s just going to help with The growing conditions slow ripening was The next point that I put there and this Is one of the things that really makes Reusing wines quite interesting to taste
Because it’s slow ripening it means Essentially that it just has this Capability of building up flavor slowly Over an extended growing season so one Of the reasons that we often associate Riesling with quite a lot of intensity Quite a lot of complexity of flavor is That it just takes its time building up These flavors and this is one of the Reasons why we think is suited to quite Particular areas cool climate yes of Course but ideally we want to have the Best sites within a cool climate if we Think about site selection you want South-facing slopes slopes that are Going to be more exposed to the sunshine More heat and sunlight and we also Ideally want somewhere that’s going to Be a little bit protected from any Incoming bad weather so if we can leave The grapes on the vine for longer Particularly through the autumn it just Means that reasoning can take its time And build up this flavor over that Extended period we’ll see later the Labeling terms have been created to show Different styles of Riesling or how the Wine can create different styles when it Is harvested later So in Germany we’ll make Speight laser in France we can talk About bonding studies these are Additional labeling terms they have been Created to reflect grapes that have been
Harvested later where we do tend to get This slightly different character in Terms of aromas and flavors one of the Things that I didn’t put here is the Reasoning also has a naturally high Acidity which it maintains through these Phases of ripening so when you are Thinking about Riesling whether it’s a Dry Riesling or a sweet Riesling or Something in the middle nearly always We’re going to have that refreshing Characteristic that acidity that either Helps balance sweetness or just helps Give you this lovely characteristic to The dry wines so acidity is very Important for all types of reasoning and Then a couple of points at the bottom There the everything is prone to Botrytis and Kelleen so botrytis here We’re talking about noble rot so one of The ways we can make sweet wines from Riesling is by using noble rot affected Grapes and that is again practiced Widely in many places around the world To make some delicious wines so botrytis Normally we think a good thing kelud not So much Kulu means that during the Flowering phase in spring you can get an Uneven flowering and even fruit set so It can cause problems within the bunches Of grapes you don’t get as many flowers Setting as you should do so that’s That’s a little bit more of a challenge But I mean on the whole if we think
About all of these characteristics put Together Riesling pretty sturdy as far As grape varieties grow certainly not Quite the challenge that we had when we Talked about a pinot noir a few weeks Ago so from the Great characteristics I just want to Have a little mention of the history so The first documented account briefing is Dated 1628 this was actually reasoning In Alsace rather than reasoning in Germany so we know it existed before That it’s estimated that it’s been Around since approximately the 1400 Somewhere around there and so it’s quite Old its parentage is not so clear when We think of some of the other grape Varieties Cabernet Sauvignon for example It’s more widely understood where it Came from With reasoning it’s sort of considered To have evolved through a number of Grape varieties in Germany and often Being cross fertilized with just wild Native vines so a couple of grape Varieties have been indicated in the Parentage along the way so tremana and Goulet belong to not particularly famous Fate varieties and certainly reasoning Wasn’t just the product of these two as I said it was a sort of evolution over Many years in terms of where the name Riesling itself came from there’s a Couple of theories for that as well and
So one of them is that it’s related to The word ruse which is indicative of the Dark word that you can see in the Picture there the trunk of reasoning has This naturally darker color to the word And or that it’s related to the word Dirk reasoned which is the german term For color so we mentioned it’s just now The reasoning is susceptible to this so It could make sense that the grape Variety kind of took its name from this Concept but we don’t really know and There’s a number of different kind of Spelling’s and different records so it’s Again unclear as to who started it first Or what it was first called and but These days it is a read on around the World but it’s called Riesling So it is a German variety I mentioned That already so it’s grown pretty much Everywhere in Germany so all regions Wrote some amounts of Riesling some more Some less but it’s not only in Germany That we’ll find it so we’ll have a Little bit more of a detailed look in a Minute but it grew from Germany Obviously to France that’s what touch Upon other parts of Europe and then will Widely do it around the mid-1800s it got Taken over to places like Australia California we see it in lots of other Places now so it is widely travelled It’s also been really popular for a lot Of this time it’s just popularity has
Waned in more recent years and I Mentioned earlier that the reputation Suffered due to interference with Similar names so that combined with the Inferior wines that people assumed for Riesling which was wrong and also Combined more recently with the trend For up aged wines you know Chardonnay Looking at you there and all of these Factors have sort of combined together To mean the reason essentially just fell Out of popularity but it is one I mean Obviously is not falling completely out Of popularity otherwise we wouldn’t have All of you here this evening and and it Is one that I think when you like it you Really like it so it’s one of these Great varieties but particularly when People have been have been into wine for A while seem to all kind of move towards Riesling and it gets you one way or the Other in the end just a couple of Questions there the presentations will Be included in the recording yes I would Not say reasoning as a hybrid grape Variety no a hybrid it’s only talking About two different species of in affero So Riesling is just a naturally Occurring cross Instead suppose all of the parents are From with affero binds do keep The questions coming happy to as soon as I go along so next just went to touch a Little bit on the wine styles that we
Can get from using so I’ve put dry or Medium or sweets for really it could be Anything we can get some better off dry Some that are super luscious and some That are just a bit sweet and really Anything in between so for dry Styles There’s a few regions around the world Which have their reputation for drier Styles we’ll touch on in a moment in Particular often here we’ve as I’ve said Already we get that high acidity quite Pronounced intensity and the aromas that Can range from fruits and floral maybe Honey notes mineral characteristics Medium wines so here we’re talking about Wines that will have more sugar in them Still with that high acidity often these More medium Styles associated with Germany thing places like the Moselle For example have quite a reputation for These medium sweet stars where the Acidity actually helps balance with the Sugar there in terms of sweeter wines We’ve got a few different ways that we Can make sweeter easing so we’ve Mentioned already that it’s a great Variety that can withstand late Harvesting so building up sugar as the Grapes associated with that we’ve got Sweet wines that can be made from noble Rot affected grapes so noble rot will Find not everywhere not every year but If we do have grapes that are affected By noble rot it means that the
Essentially the water evaporates and we Get these really kind of shriveled Slightly moldy but concentrated grapes With Give us the very small amounts are very Constantly introduced to make a very Sweet wine often when we’re thinking About sweet wines made from noble rot Affected grapes We’d also get some particular aroma Flavor characteristics such as marmalade Rye bread dried apricots affected sweet Wines but then of course there are other Ways of making sweet wines from Riesling Ice pine or ice wine wine made from Frozen grapes is another potential way That we can make sweet wines freezing And this is a very different way of Thinking about sweet ones compared to The noble right here we are healthy Grapes no noble rot no botrytis Influence left on the vines until until They freeze so until winter and here we Have to have vines grapes harvested over Night essentially when it’s really cold So that the ice the water that’s frozen Inside the grapes doesn’t melt because Otherwise it would all be lost so it’s Another way of making sweet wine so You’ve got all of these different styles Of sweet wines and then of course Sparkling wine production so reasoning Can also make a lovely sparkling wines Typically we’d be thinking about tank
Method sparkling as an aromatic grape Variety it’s most often considered that Tank method is best so that we can Really just promote those aromatic Characteristics of the grape variety and That said you can certainly find some Examples of traditional method and Sparkling wine from using as well we Would have that more you see autolytic Character come through to same Everything sparklings can be drier they Can have some sugar in them so again Using that versatility they’re just Trying to catch up on a few questions I Said I’d answer all of them and then Loads came in if I couldn’t read them All So question about reasons parents There’s basically it’s not a clear Lineage so at some point tremana was Involved at some point GUI Blum was Involved but there are other vines are The wild wines that would have been Involved so it’s not essentially a clear Lineage that we have for for everything And sort of Washington reason I’ll Mention that a bit later on um if There’s mode or no coat but it smells Fine that should be fine even if the Wine is out of condition it’s not gonna Do you any harm so if it smells okay Then go for it regarding the Styles the Amount of sugar is defined so depends Which stars we’re talking about in many
Countries they do have legal minimum Requirements for the amount of sugar That needs to be in the grape not Normally how much is in the wine that Will be down to the winemaker has the Reusing reputation compromised Especially in the UK yeah over the last Couple of decades it’s definitely fallen Out of favor feel free to add in how It’s going in your local market people Aim to make botrytis reasoning yeah for Sure but it’s not anything you can Guarantee so you might have areas where Botrytis is more likely or there is new Vineyard where the Tritons is more Likely we know that botrytis likes to Grow in humid conditions so often we’ll Find its vineyards near to a body of Water a lake or a river where it’s more Likely to happen but it’s not anything That’s guaranteed so when you are Enjoying your noble rot affected mines It just reflects on that and not only is It not guaranteed to be to happen every Year but when it does happen and you do Get that lovely botrytis and you have to Be it’s a very labor intensive job Grapes for noble rot affected grapes are Often pit individually by grape not even By cutting off whole bunches so that Means you’ll have to go through you’ll Be node several times as more grapes That come right and just keep harvest in The
Selectively so labor of love question in A tasting lineup what order do you Suggest an extensive amount of reasons And draw and why not put variety of Other ayats um I’m personally I’d be Happy with the line of reasons it just Depends on what you’re aiming to achieve That’s a long patience method let me Just read it in the WCC tips who take Split this huge benefit cutter is Listening order within cover notes on The ice wine is more of an event facing That happens grapes which no not really True that so when we’re making ice wine Your grapes have to be right but not Affected by a noble or anything else so Essentially it’s kind of a risk because You’re leaving some of your grapes which Which are healthy on the vine hoping That you’ll get the right conditions for For the freezing to occur but it might Not happen every year like with the Noble right it’s not guaranteed so you Could just be risking losing your grapes Eventually okay that was a question Baked I’m gonna move on from now Otherwise I’m not sure I reached the end Of the presentation if I miss any of Your questions you can feel free to Email me afterwards a little bit on Winemaking techniques so breathing is a Great variety there are a few things That are common in production Particularly quality reasons which will
Be different to wines like Chardonnay For example a couple weeks ago so I’ve Listed a few of them here it’s not an Exhaustive list and as always it’s going To be down to each winemaker to decide Which of these methods they will or will Not do So the first thing I’ve mentioned here Is whole bunch of pressing so rather Than be stemming the grapes they go into The presses hull and this just means we Can make sure we extract the most Delicate juice that hasn’t come into Contact with any of the stems or Anything we don’t want to a different Perspective to that is to do some skin Contact so when we talk about skin Contact for white wines it means leaving The skins and juice together normally at A cool temperature before fermentation So aromatic grape varieties like Wheezing and other grape varieties this Can be true as well often have a layer Of cells underneath the skin which has More aromas in it that it can impart to The juice so by leaving the skin some Juice for a short amount of time this For fermentation this can then add to The intensity add to the characteristics Of the wine some producers we may even See leaving the skins in contact for a More extended amount of time you can Find orange wines now made with Reasoning as well so there’s another
Style that I hadn’t mentioned so far Very going in terms of fermentation Fermentation temperatures will be cool That will help keep more of the aromatic Perfumed characteristics of the grape Variety in play choice is a vessel yes But ideally in nerds vessels and so Stainless steel is inert we know that That’s not going to react with the wine And but in many places its traditional To use old oak so we often talk about as Having this ability to impart Characteristics to the wine but Oaks It’s been used enough times will have Lost its flavor so some producers in our Sass for example will have big like Massive old oak vessels that are decades Old maybe over a century old and they Are not going to impart anything in Terms of oaky flavors to the one but its Traditional to use Instead in terms of other varieties Emma Left other varieties other winemaking Techniques MLF is generally inhibited And MLF we’re talking about malolactic Fermentation so this is practiced on Some wines to soften acidity and can add Creamy flavors it can also mute varietal Characteristics a little bit so for Reasoning where we want to keep those Varietal characters and we want to keep Our high acidity it’s not really suited To the wine styles here typo there it’s Meant to say leaves contact not less
Contact apologies these contact is Possible so leaving the leaves the dead Cells in contact with the wine after Fermentation will help add some texture Some body to the wine and then it again That would be an option for the Winemaker and typically we’re looking at Wines that are bottled Young so we want to make sure that we Keep as much of that bright primary Characteristic in the wine and then give It the potential to develop these Tertiary characteristics these bottle Development characteristics later on Oops okay from here just way to throw up The world map and have a little bit of a Think about regions where we would find Using so we know when we’re talking About the origin we’re talking about Germany right up on this 50 latitude Here I mentioned France as well Alsace In France really far north all around Europe though you’ll find examples of Riesling so Italy lots of Eastern European countries Croatia Slovenia Again it just travels they travel a lot Around countries around here so you’ll Find it there in Spain not so much most Of it a bit warm for reasoning I will Find it in America of course in California and there That’s quite a lot of reason planted in New York Canada to cooler parts of Chile And Argentina particularly further south
Again we’ll find it Similarly South Africa Australia New Zealand all of the main countries that You can think of producing different Producing styles of reading so it is Widely traveled when we’re thinking About some of these sort of new world Countries we’re gonna have to be Thinking about the places that are Slightly more moderated slightly cooler Because as I’ve said it’s not going to Grow it’s not betting well-suited to Anywhere that’s too warm if it ripens Too quickly you just don’t get that Buildup of flavor you don’t get that Aromatic intensity or complexity so Finding somewhere where the temperature Is moderated perhaps by proximity to the Coast or altitude then that’s where we Can see the best examples made so from Here I’m going to just touch on a few Important music regions for reasoning by No means all of them but just to give You an idea of some of the history and Some of the different styles so we will Of course have to talk about Germany so You can see the different regions of Germany here you might also be able to Notice we’ve got the 50 latitude just Here in Germany too so if we consider That 50 degrees is normally on northern Limit great going got quite a few German Regions that are straddling that so it Is very much cold climates and wheezing
Obviously grows really well here but Particularly in those northern parts We’ve got to think about making sure That reasoning is planted on the best Sites we’ve got that south-facing aspect To get more exposure to this on sign Sunshine of them darker souls or stony Songs or vineyards overlooking a river Where we can benefit from reflected Light so site selection is quite Important I’m using of course gets the best sites In those regions anyway so a few Comments on the history of reasoning in Germany and half of the world’s we’ve Seen produced in Germany it’s not Historical that’s still quite recent we Mentioned earlier that evidence exists In the fourteen hundreds so it was Around for a long time it wasn’t Recognized as a quality variety and by The time we get to the 18th century it’s Planted the planting of Riesling was Actively encouraged it was recognized That this vapor aya T produces some Really high quality wines so we should Plant more of it it makes sense one of The things that may not have shown Reason to its best potential around this Time though was that the grapes will Have been picked often a bit too early So given what we’ve said about raising Ripening later it’s often in those later Stages where we can get more of these
Flavors so by picking it too early we Can make a nice wine for sure but it Just won’t have that intensity or some Of those typical perfume freezing Characteristics that it’s often what we Look for but people kept planting it the Plantings kept growing so that was good By the time we get to the 19th and into The end of the 90th into the 20th Century and readings from Germany is Some of the most highs highly prized Wines in the world you know you were Throwing a fancy dinner party you would Be getting your white wine would be a German Riesling and your red wine would Be from Bordeaux you know it was sort of In that kind of same level of quality So yeah breezing especially German Riesling Was very highly regarded and then we Come into a couple of these problems That I’ve mentioned already in the 1930s Was where particularly the German wine Trade had been suffering For a number of decades from Falak sura from gray rats from the Economic implications of the war there Just wasn’t enough going to make enough People buying German wines to make sure That the trade could survive so it was Recommended that producers focus on Creating on their marketing on creating Brands that would be recognizable among International consumers so one of the
Ones that you will recognize in the UK Probably is leapfrog and this was one of These brands that was created and it was Actually aimed at the UK market yeah I Know I’ve spelt it wrong again never Mind And so yeah it was made from a blend of Grapes it was made from a blend of Regions and it was sweetened with sugar Added after fermentation so if we you’ve Done much studying with your WCT Qualifications you know that this is not The recipe to make the highest quality Wine and it certainly was not the Highest quality wine so it was Accessible it was easy to drink it was Recognizable and it was inexpensive so It became very popular however it didn’t It kind of brought down the reputation Of journey by association and then Following on from that we can see later On an increase in plantings of other Grape varieties so Riesling was highly Prized but as we’ve said it you know it Had all the best sights and it’s a late Right now so particularly in Germany Where we have a cool climate we might Not be guaranteed to get the conditions We need every year to allow a reason to Reach its later stages of ripeness so it Was seen that it was easier to plant Some of the crossings grape varieties That had been created that were easier To ripen that produced wines that were
Still Palatable but just didn’t necessarily Have that intensity or concentration That we expect from reasoning but for The grape grower it was a bit easier and They could still make their money from It so those varieties increased and then Reusing by necessity has a decrease so We went from the majority of most Regions being particularly favored Towards Riesling to actually that Decreased by a significant amount over The following decades I am is stabilized A bit now new young grape growers Winemakers at recognizing that amazing Is the grape variety that should be Prioritized which is where we come to Generation Riesling so this is Indicating why makers that are that Exist now whose priority is to create And promote quite high high quality Reasons and move away from these easier Ripening reasons so at crossings easier Writing crossings that were more of a Trend for a while or catching up and Some of your questions was trucking Popular in 18th and 19th centuries and Yeah many of the wines would have been Dry the sweetness has always been buried That actually leads me nicely to Reasoning in the predicate swine system So talked about the different levels of Sweetness that we can get for Rieslings And if you’ve spent any time studying
German wine then you’ll know that we’ve Got this selection of labeling terms Refer to as the predicate spying system So this has come about as a way to Recognize essentially the different Styles of wine according to the Different types of harvested the grapes So this was created by Johannesburg in Rang out and one of the more famous German estates Apparently the reason that wheezing in California used to be referred to as Johannesburg Riesling cool down to this Particular producer so quite famous and And it was growers here who recognized That Riesling was able to develop Flavors aromas later on its ripening Stage so we’ve got here in 1775 the First use of the term state laser so Speak leaves literally translated means Late picked so when they realized that If you harvested the grapes later they Build up more flavors but they also Related it back to the amount of sugar Than the grapes so state there’s a we’re Thinking about grapes that a prior have More sugar but it doesn’t mean that it Makes the sweeter wine necessarily where We start with a certain amount of sugar We can either firm in that or to dry we Can have a dry wine or we can retain Some of the sugar and have an off dry Wine so state laser tends to be sort of Between dry often up to medium ish
Levels of sweetness it was also strata Johannesburg which are recognized with Noticing noble rot growth on on Reasoning so 1776 was where it was first Noticed that these moldy looking grapes That were affected by noble rot actually Made really good tasting wine and so From there we see some of the other Categories of the the so one of the key Factors here which marks out this Classification is different to what We’ll see in the Appalachian France for Example is that the focus is on the must Wait rather than yield so the focus is On the amount of sugar in the grapes Rather than the yield how many grapes Were grown and grown per vine and that’s What’s going to distinguish the grapes Into the different categories so yields Has never been a massive thing in Germany there are of course legal Limitations in place and but that’s more Of a modern More of a modern creation historically It was less not necessarily as important To have particularly low yields but what You wanted to focus on was ripeness and Again coming back to Germany being a Cool climate where we’re not guaranteed To get the exact conditions we need Every year for ripe grapes it makes Sense that this is the way to recognize Particularly high quality wines if You’ve got that those natural conditions
That allow you to leave the grapes on The vine for longer to build up this Level of ripeness then that’s where We’re gonna get our higher quality wines From and then the other category is sort Of followed years later so in 1971 is Where a cabinet was defined and more Recently 1982 was when ice wine became a Separate category moving on from Germany Then I wanted to mention our sauce as Well I really like and sass particularly Else are using so asks us as you can see From the map really close to Germany Historically was part of Germany it’s Kind of gone back and forth a little bit Between the two countries so now it is Part of France but has a very Germanic Influence in terms of wines in Particular so reasoning is the most Widely planted grape variety in our sass Whereas we don’t find it in any other Region in France we also find Differences in terms of the labeling in Our sauce compared to other regions we Don’t have the same complicated Appellation system you’ll see here in Burgundy or Bordeaux and we do have the Riots or labeling very common in Alsace As well single varietal wines often with A great variety indicated on the label So labeling here much more similar not The same as what you’d expect in Germany So it’s a bit of a unique example in Terms of
French wine davening and in terms of why It’s so suited to these aromatic Varieties it’s all to do with the Natural conditions here so you can see We’ve got the Vosges mountains smaller Than the left much larger in the map on The right so the Vosges mountains have This effect of essentially creating a Rain shadow for the vineyards about cess Well the wind and the rain that comes Across the body of France is stopped by The mountains so where the vineyards are On the eastern side of these mountains And they are dry they are sunny we’ve Got some of the driest vineyards in France right here purely by virtue of Being on the other side of the Vosges Mountains and again like I’ve said a few Times already amazing it’s a variety That likes that long dry growing season Here it can just again be left to build Up more sugar more intensity more flavor Where we’ve got this long ripening Period that construction to autumn Picture access there and so like with Germany even though we get this long Extended ripening season we still need Good sites to ripen reasoning on so Again due to that the Vosges mountains Will find that the vineyards are often Planted on the lower slopes so you’re Getting that favorable aspects South-southeast facing which means that We can get enough sun exposure in a heat
Exposure for reason to ripen competitive German styles typically we expect our Sation reason to be drier and again can Develop those floral notes and also can H extremely well now this is the point Where I look at my glass of Riesling and I actually tasted anything from this for A while so I’ll just talk a little bit About the wine that I’ve opened to taste Along with this session today so I did Go for analysis Riesling I have got an Some crude musing in fact from 2013 Which explains why I mean you might be Able to see through the camera there That it’s actually look there’s slightly More gold and a tone to it we know with White wines that as they age they can Get a little bit more intensity to move Towards these golden colors and that’s Starting to happen here and pronounced Intensity it’s got this slightly dried Fruit aroma coming through like dried Apple dried peaches got some honey Definitely still got that kind of floral Now and it’s really kind of white citrus As well citrus zest something a little Bit and kind of wet stones or flinty About it we don’t like really describing Mines as minerals so much so I’ll say 50 And it hasn’t got any of those and kind Of petrol kerosene characteristics I Talked about earlier I know they sound Like they would put the people off but a
Lot of people actually really quite Liked them but it’s just not there in This particular example ya know and That’s just very dry very high acidity a Lot of mouth watering right now probably Shouldn’t taste of that one so trying to Speak but loads of flavor lovely texture To it as well not full bodied but Certainly at the higher end of medium And just all those flavors kind of Lingering on the finish as well say so Lots of nice completely nice structure It was just it was just lovely so that Was just me completely stopping in the Middle of my slide to drink some wine The other terms that I’ve left at the Bottom there and are also living terms So these applying to Alsace OneNote are Deed is late harvest in French instead So you can see there an equivalent The state laser that we talked about in Germany and the selection de grenoble is For Nobel rots affected sweet wines so The No Child Eve again can vary between In sweetness can be dry off dry medium And whereas the select skimmed around Nobles has to be has to be a sweet one Because we respect grapes and then Finally Grand Cru indicating a vineyard Sites in the region that has been Defined as being suitable to use the Term Grand Cru and quite hesitant when I Talk about this because it’s not not Necessarily appropriate to say the
Better it’s actually quite a Controversial system where some of the Vineyards that I had been assigned Grand Cru status maybe don’t deserve it some Of them are really quite big and cover Quite a large area of different soils Different micro climates where it’s Maybe not appropriate for it to be a Single Bronco site and so because of That some producers choose not to use The term bond crew they don’t Necessarily agree with it or some Producers will use wines that are maybe Leaving temp on crew because they can so Be warned with wine cream not true of Burgundy no burgundy is well mostly now There’s always going to be a bit of Variation but I think in the vineyard Sites are just generally much bigger and I can see your questions flying past me And I’m not having a chance to read some Of them is the pepper note dependent on Climate and or bottle age yes and yes so It’s something that we associate with More mature Rieslings often will find That in warmer climates it’s a note that Develops earlier so Riesling from Australia for example won’t necessarily Have to be that old to show this petrol Kerosene character is But you’re also writing that some just Don’t develop them some producers will Choose clones choose versions of Reasoning where it doesn’t appear so
It’s not guaranteed to happen on every Reasoning what wine is it Oh my wine is the Pierre Frick Grand Cru Walberg from 2013 biodynamic wine I just Really like it Ok omelettes then to Australia so I Wanted to pick Australia as an example With a new world region to talk about Because reusing has been there for Actually very long time so it’s the sort Of 1850s that reasoning was first taken Over to Australia so it’s not that new Essentially and here like in many other Parts of the world reasoning was really Important paper right it was the most Important white grape variety for a long Time but then trends kind of changed So we’re thinking about wheezing in Australia as I mentioned earlier we do Have to think about the slightly more Moderate moderate moderate climates Moderated climates where it’s not going To be too warm where the grapes can Still ripen slower so here we’re looking At bits of South Australia but the Higher altitude bits in South Australia Where we get higher altitude we had that Greater diurnal range cooler nights Which means that the grapes can develop More slowly and parts of Tasmania and Victoria and yeah a few different places Where we can find wheezing in Australia But we’ve always got to be thinking About someone that is more moderate it’s
Not going to do as successfully in the Same places that Shiraz rose for the Most part And so here we go first documented in 1837 and it was popular with this Dilation settlers at the time so so Leisure was basically where bits of Germany and Poland and Czech Republic Are now so very much overlaps with those Regions that we think of as making a lot Of Riesling so popular in terms of Drinking but also popular in terms of Growing so it was very widely planted Particularly in South Australia and it Was Australia’s leading white variety by The 1960s to the extent that if someone Asked for a dry white wine they were Just talking about a reason you didn’t Even have to name the grape variety if You’re talking about the dry white wine Then you’re talking about reasoning Which again goes to show that the style Here was very much towards the drier Wines and before this a lot of the wines Being produced in Australia where often Sweet and fortified so going from that My uncle hired sugar to this drawing High acid style you can see how that Became really popular that was a nice Contrast for people but again didn’t Really last there was some confusion Over labeling wines that were using Might be labeled as sweet when they were Not or other varieties that had some
Sugar that other wines that had sugar And when it would reason when it was in Fact a different variety so it kind of It did fall apart a little bit and then As you will know Chardonnay became the More fashionable grape variety so Planting sort of reasoning quickly Reduced and Chardonnay became more Popular and bacon like in other places Amusing has remained popular film many Grape growers winemakers and it is it’s It’s coming back it’s making its way Back especially as trends for Chardonnay Have debated somewhat in more recent Years Okay so getting near the end raising Food we’re something that I wanted to Mention reasoning I think it’s often one Of the most food friendly grape Varieties and that goes for any style of Reasoning that you want to look at so Driver Styles go just as a it’s six O’clock in the evening and I want to Have a glass of Riesling fine Having them with you know your typical Fish dishes or white meat dishes perfect Medium styles often will go well with Spicy foods so if you’ve depends on what You eat securing to your careers or more Kind of Mexican foods or various things Where you can find spices using a medium Sweet wheezing is top notch and the Sweetness in the wine will offset the Spiciness so wear it with a dry wine it
Makes your food taste spicier and then Your wine tastes basically less fruity Medium styles can actually offset that So the wine tastes good food tastes good All good and then for sweet styles so Sweet wines we normally associate with Dessert but that’s not exclusively how You can enjoy them I very much recommend Having your sweet wines with blue cheese Sweet and salty contrast works really Well or pate is a classic match for Sweet wines too and then aged styles so As the wines develop and they they build Up more of these flavors and they Actually work well with really kind of Concentrated rich stars of food as well So whereas your more youthful styles as We said maybe more for parity for Lighter dishes if you’ve got something That’s kind of richly flavored really Concentrated then pairing it with Something aged and works really well It’s a wine that can stand up to A lot of different types of food so Don’t be scared to match it with Different things Mason must finish Before I start drinking my wine so here We come to the end of the presentation And kind of call to arms here reasoning Is still a misunderstood grape variety Still has people who would assume they Don’t like it before even trying it and So if you do get the chance to share Some with your friends or with your
Family and just get out there spread the Word you may have heard of the 31 days Of reasoning campaign it runs every year Normally kind of promoted by restaurants And retailers I’m not sure what the plan Is this year but if you want an excuse To go and get more Riesling it will be Provided for you so keep your eyes open And in July for opportunities for more Riesling and that does bring us to the End of all the information so feel free To hang around if you’ve got some Questions I shall end the recording now