Riesling around the world

The lightest and most delicate Riesling in the world: 7.5–9% alcohol, piercing acidity, and slate-driven precision.

Against its siblings: lighter in alcohol, lighter, sweeter.

• Cool climate. Slower ripening tends to retain acidity and hold alcohol down, and green or citrus notes survive where a warmer site would ripen them away.
• No oak. Fermented and aged in steel or neutral vessels, so what you taste is fruit and site rather than barrel.
• Residual sugar. Fermentation stopped before all the sugar was consumed, which softens acidity and changes what the wine can be drunk with.

The lightest Prädikat level — a measure of grape ripeness at harvest, not of sweetness in the bottle.

Against its siblings: lighter in alcohol, lighter, more fruit-driven.

• Cool climate. Slower ripening tends to retain acidity and hold alcohol down, and green or citrus notes survive where a warmer site would ripen them away.
• No oak. Fermented and aged in steel or neutral vessels, so what you taste is fruit and site rather than barrel.

New York State’s cool-climate Riesling — precise, high-acid and made across the sweetness range.

Against its siblings: sweeter, leaner and more cutting, lighter.

• Cool climate. Slower ripening tends to retain acidity and hold alcohol down, and green or citrus notes survive where a warmer site would ripen them away.
• No oak. Fermented and aged in steel or neutral vessels, so what you taste is fruit and site rather than barrel.
• Lees ageing. Time on spent yeast adds texture, breadth and a savoury, bready depth.
• Residual sugar. Fermentation stopped before all the sugar was consumed, which softens acidity and changes what the wine can be drunk with.

Bone dry, intensely limey and steely — a category of its own, with almost nothing in common with German Riesling beyond the grape.

Against its siblings: drier, leaner and more cutting.

• Cool climate. Slower ripening tends to retain acidity and hold alcohol down, and green or citrus notes survive where a warmer site would ripen them away.
• No oak. Fermented and aged in steel or neutral vessels, so what you taste is fruit and site rather than barrel.

The dominant modern German style: fully dry, higher in alcohol than the classic sweet wines, and the everyday drink of the country itself.

Against its siblings: stronger and warmer, drier.

• Cool climate. Slower ripening tends to retain acidity and hold alcohol down, and green or citrus notes survive where a warmer site would ripen them away.

Riesling made fuller, drier and more powerful than in Germany, in France’s driest wine region.

Against its siblings: stronger and warmer.

• Cool climate. Slower ripening tends to retain acidity and hold alcohol down, and green or citrus notes survive where a warmer site would ripen them away.
• No oak. Fermented and aged in steel or neutral vessels, so what you taste is fruit and site rather than barrel.

Germany’s most structured Riesling, from a long south-facing stretch of the Rhine — fuller and more often dry than the Mosel.

• Cool climate. Slower ripening tends to retain acidity and hold alcohol down, and green or citrus notes survive where a warmer site would ripen them away.
• Oak ageing. Extended time in barrel adds spice and structure and slowly softens tannin.
• Lees ageing. Time on spent yeast adds texture, breadth and a savoury, bready depth.

"Late harvest" — the second Prädikat level. Riper grapes than Kabinett, but not necessarily a sweeter wine.

Against its siblings: sweeter, fruitier, lighter in alcohol.

• Cool climate. Slower ripening tends to retain acidity and hold alcohol down, and green or citrus notes survive where a warmer site would ripen them away.
• No oak. Fermented and aged in steel or neutral vessels, so what you taste is fruit and site rather than barrel.
• Residual sugar. Fermentation stopped before all the sugar was consumed, which softens acidity and changes what the wine can be drunk with.

Precise, expressive Riesling from a geologically varied region between the Mosel and Rheinhessen.

• Cool climate. Slower ripening tends to retain acidity and hold alcohol down, and green or citrus notes survive where a warmer site would ripen them away.
• No oak. Fermented and aged in steel or neutral vessels, so what you taste is fruit and site rather than barrel.
• Lees ageing. Time on spent yeast adds texture, breadth and a savoury, bready depth.

Dry Riesling from Germany’s largest region — the site of a generational quality revival after the Liebfraumilch era.

Against its siblings: softer and rounder.

• Cool climate. Slower ripening tends to retain acidity and hold alcohol down, and green or citrus notes survive where a warmer site would ripen them away.
• Lees ageing. Time on spent yeast adds texture, breadth and a savoury, bready depth.

Dry, stony, powerful Riesling from the terraced Danube — quite unlike German examples despite the shared grape.

Against its siblings: fuller and richer, rounder and creamier in texture, stronger and warmer.

• Cool climate. Slower ripening tends to retain acidity and hold alcohol down, and green or citrus notes survive where a warmer site would ripen them away.
• No oak. Fermented and aged in steel or neutral vessels, so what you taste is fruit and site rather than barrel.
• Lees ageing. Time on spent yeast adds texture, breadth and a savoury, bready depth.

Riper, fuller German Riesling from the country’s warmest major region.

Against its siblings: fuller and richer, rounder and creamier in texture, stronger and warmer.

• Cool climate. Slower ripening tends to retain acidity and hold alcohol down, and green or citrus notes survive where a warmer site would ripen them away.
• Lees ageing. Time on spent yeast adds texture, breadth and a savoury, bready depth.

Intensely sweet wine from grapes picked and pressed while naturally frozen on the vine.

• Cool climate. Slower ripening tends to retain acidity and hold alcohol down, and green or citrus notes survive where a warmer site would ripen them away.
• Residual sugar. Fermentation stopped before all the sugar was consumed, which softens acidity and changes what the wine can be drunk with.

"Selected harvest" — individually selected very ripe bunches, often with some botrytis. Usually, though not always, sweet.

• Cool climate. Slower ripening tends to retain acidity and hold alcohol down, and green or citrus notes survive where a warmer site would ripen them away.
• No oak. Fermented and aged in steel or neutral vessels, so what you taste is fruit and site rather than barrel.
• Noble rot. Botrytis cinerea dehydrates the berry and adds its own honey and marmalade character alongside the concentrated sugar.
• Residual sugar. Fermentation stopped before all the sugar was consumed, which softens acidity and changes what the wine can be drunk with.

"Selected berry harvest" — individual botrytised berries picked by hand, producing a concentrated dessert wine.

• Cool climate. Slower ripening tends to retain acidity and hold alcohol down, and green or citrus notes survive where a warmer site would ripen them away.
• No oak. Fermented and aged in steel or neutral vessels, so what you taste is fruit and site rather than barrel.
• Noble rot. Botrytis cinerea dehydrates the berry and adds its own honey and marmalade character alongside the concentrated sugar.
• Residual sugar. Fermentation stopped before all the sugar was consumed, which softens acidity and changes what the wine can be drunk with.

Grapes frozen on the vine and pressed while still frozen — pure, piercing fruit with none of botrytis’s honeyed character.

• Cool climate. Slower ripening tends to retain acidity and hold alcohol down, and green or citrus notes survive where a warmer site would ripen them away.
• No oak. Fermented and aged in steel or neutral vessels, so what you taste is fruit and site rather than barrel.
• Residual sugar. Fermentation stopped before all the sugar was consumed, which softens acidity and changes what the wine can be drunk with.

The highest Prädikat: shrivelled, fully botrytised berries picked individually, producing one of the most concentrated wines made anywhere.

• Cool climate. Slower ripening tends to retain acidity and hold alcohol down, and green or citrus notes survive where a warmer site would ripen them away.
• No oak. Fermented and aged in steel or neutral vessels, so what you taste is fruit and site rather than barrel.
• Noble rot. Botrytis cinerea dehydrates the berry and adds its own honey and marmalade character alongside the concentrated sugar.
• Residual sugar. Fermentation stopped before all the sugar was consumed, which softens acidity and changes what the wine can be drunk with.

Austria’s sparkling wine, governed since 2015 by a three-tier quality pyramid — Klassik, Reserve and Grosse Reserve.

• Cool climate. Slower ripening tends to retain acidity and hold alcohol down, and green or citrus notes survive where a warmer site would ripen them away.
• Traditional method. A second fermentation in the bottle, with the wine held on its lees — the source of both the fine bead and the bready complexity.
• Lees ageing. Time on spent yeast adds texture, breadth and a savoury, bready depth.

German sparkling wine, covering everything from industrial tank-method fizz to serious traditional-method Riesling Sekt.

• Cool climate. Slower ripening tends to retain acidity and hold alcohol down, and green or citrus notes survive where a warmer site would ripen them away.
• Traditional method. A second fermentation in the bottle, with the wine held on its lees — the source of both the fine bead and the bready complexity.
• Lees ageing. Time on spent yeast adds texture, breadth and a savoury, bready depth.