Riesling that is not too sweet?

Question

Is there a Riesling out there that is not too sweet? How do I know if it is going to be dry or not? I recently had a dry Riesling (forgot the name) that was very good. However, since then most of the Riesling's I have tried have been too sweet.

Answer 1

Look at the wine label (valid for German/ Austrian riesling)that usually includes the following things:
- Winemaker
- Varietal, the type of grape.
- Vintage, the year the grapes were harvested.
- Geographic Origin,
- A pradikat designation for QmP wines.
- A vineyard may also be named,
- The pradikat designation on the wine indicates the level of ripeness that the grapes have attained. They are, in order of increasing ripeness:

1/ Kabinett
These grapes are considered ripe. They make the lightest wines of the pradikat-designated wines.
2/ Spatlese
These grapes are considered late harvest; they have been left on the vine much longer and are more intensely flavored.
3/ Auslese
These grapes are very late harvest hand-selected grapes, and are extremely ripe.
4/ Beerenauslese
These grapes are over-ripe and are showing signs of botrytis fungus infection (which is a good thing). The grapes are extremely concentrated and intense, and is usually made as dessert wine.
5/Eiswein
These are Beerenauslese grapes that have been deliberately allowed to freeze on the vine. The grapes are pressed while still frozen. The ice locks up most of the water, leaving a more concentrated, sweeter juice. Since the frozen grapes must be hand selected and processed immediately in the middle of the night while they are still frozen, production is very limited and expensive.
6/ Trockenbeerenauslese
These are Beerenauselse that have been left on the vine so long that they have shriveled due to botrytis. This produces fine dessert wine. Riesling Trockenbeerenauslese is extremely rare and expensive.
Sweetness usually goes up as you move up the pradikat scale, although this is not required. The designation only refers to the sugar levels at harvest time, not in the final product. However, in most cases, a higher pradikat wine will taste sweeter and more concentrated than a lower wine at the same alcohol level, since the higher wine has much more residual sugar. Beerenauslese and higher wines have sufficient residual sugar to taste sweet even at 14% alcohol

So try to look for those indicating Kabinett and Spatlesse

Answer 2

Try Kendal Jackson Vinters Reserve riesling.

Answer 3

I would try Pacific Rim Dry Riesling from Bonny Doon, a great Californian winery. Stay away from the German rieslings as they tend to be pretty sweet,

Answer 4

Rieslings from Alsace in France will be dry. It's difficult to determine if a German wine is dry or sweet from the label.

Answer 5

Try Australian or Canadian Rieslings, especially from the Clare valley in South Austrlia. Probably the easiest to find overseas will be Leo Buring. The Clare valley wines in particular are fermented to complete dryness, and can be flinty. It is illegal in Australia to add sugar to wine. They can sometimes be rather acid, because of this.

Answer 6

speatlese means "late harvest", indicating a sweeter wine. try rosemount estate, chateau st.jean, trimbach, fritz haag estate, or st.michelle eroica riesling, they are on the drier side, and priced at 20.00, or below.