Places compared
Mosel vs Clare Valley Riesling
One variety, two hemispheres, and two completely different answers on sweetness.
Which to choose
Choose
Mosel
You want delicacy and low alcohol, or you are eating something spicy that needs a touch of sweetness.
Choose
Clare Valley
You want it bone dry, or you are eating seafood where residual sugar would be in the way.
Worth knowing
The single most useful thing to know about German Riesling is that a higher Prädikat does not mean a sweeter wine. Kabinett, Spätlese and Auslese grade the sugar in the *grapes at harvest*; the finished wine can be dry, and says so with the word *trocken*.
Where they differ
Written rather than computed. A place has no taste profile of its own — the wines made there do, and they vary — so averaging one into existence would produce a number for every dimension and a meaning for none.
Sweetness
Mosel
Ranges from bone dry to lusciously sweet, and the label does not always make it obvious.
Clare Valley
Almost invariably bone dry. Clare made a deliberate collective decision on this.
Alcohol
Mosel
Very low — a classic Kabinett is 7.5–9%, roughly half a Californian Chardonnay.
Clare Valley
12–12.5%, which is normal for a dry white and high for Riesling.
Flavour
Mosel
Green apple, white peach, lime and a smoky, stony edge, with piercing acidity balanced against sugar.
Clare Valley
Lime and grapefruit, intense and dry, with a chalky finish and no sugar to soften it.
Ageing
Mosel
Decades. Sugar and acidity together are exceptional preservatives.
Clare Valley
Also decades, and famous for developing a kerosene or petrol note from the compound TDN, whose formation is favoured by sunlight and warm ripening.