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86-529: Today the vineyard is one of the warmest sites in the Franconia wine region and is planted primarily to Riesling and Silvaner . The history of viticulture at Würzburger Stein dates back to at least 779 making it one of Germany's oldest vineyard sites. It is possible that viticulture was taking place earlier here as the Irish missionary Saint Kilian in the 7th century was believed to have helped spread wine growing in

172-465: A solera may be the largest capital investment, and a valuable asset to be passed down to descendants. An economic concomitant of the Andalusian wine industry are Almacenistas ('warehousers', small or larger investors who purchase solera-produced material and maintain it over many years so that it can be purchased for current needs by bodegas that are actively blending for the market. Wine produced from

258-800: A " petrol " character, as a result of the development of the compund TDN . In 2015, Riesling was the most grown variety in Germany with 23.0% and 23,596 hectares (58,310 acres), and in the French region of Alsace with 21.9% and 3,350 hectares (8,300 acres). In Germany, the variety is particularly widely planted in the Mosel , Rheingau , Nahe and Pfalz wine regions. There are also significant plantings of Riesling in Austria , Slovenia , Serbia , Czech Republic , Slovakia , Luxembourg , northern Italy , Australia , New Zealand , Canada , South Africa , China , Crimea , and

344-508: A London wine merchant in the 20th century. A bottle from this 1540 vintage was tried by several wine experts, including wine writer Hugh Johnson , at a 1961 tasting in London when it was 421 years of age, making it one of the oldest wines to have ever been tasted. In his book, Vintage: The Story of Wine (1989), Johnson recounts that the Steinwein was " Madeira -like" with deep brown coloring and

430-434: A characteristic effervescent light body with a similarly light, mellow flavor. The wine can be dynamic though rarely robust, and ranges from dry to sweet. New York is also a notable producer of Riesling-based ice wine , although a large majority of New York Ice Wine is made from Vidal blanc and Vignoles . In California , Riesling lags far behind Chardonnay in popularity and is not as commonly planted. A notable exception

516-437: A combination of frequent wars, vineyard pests (such as the phylloxera epidemic ) and growing public taste for tea and coffee took its toll on the wine market. Throughout history, the vineyard and the Steinwein produced here have been noted in various texts and literary work. The German poet Johann Wolfgang von Goethe , in particular, described the wine as one of his favorites and wrote many lines praising its quality. In

602-530: A crisp lightness that bodes well for easy drinking. Often there will be an easily detectable peach and mineral complex In Michigan , whose Old Mission Peninsula and Leelanau Peninsula AVAs (near Traverse City ) are known for their ice wine , Riesling is a fairly common variety, in part on account of its suitability for that purpose. Riesling is grown in other regions as well, including colder parts of relatively warm states such as Oklahoma (where it has even been made into an eiswein ) and Texas. Riesling

688-468: A crisp taste due to the high acidity. However, Riesling's naturally high acidity and range of flavours make it suitable for extended aging. International wine expert Michael Broadbent rates aged German Rieslings, some hundreds of years old, highly. Sweet Riesling wines, such as German Trockenbeerenauslese , are especially suited for cellaring since the high sugar content provides for additional preservation. However, high-quality dry or off-dry Riesling wine

774-536: A dark-skinned clone, i.e., it is still a white wine grape. It is considered a mutation of White Riesling, but some experts have suggested the opposite relationship, i.e., that Red Riesling could be the forerunner of White Riesling. Small amounts of Red Riesling are grown in Germany and Austria. In 2006, the Rheingau winery Fritz Allendorf planted what has been claimed to be the first commercial amounts of Red Riesling. To confuse matters, "Red Riesling" has also been used as

860-408: A high salt content. In Germany, cabbage is sometimes cooked with riesling to reduce the vegetable's smell. As with other white wines, dry Riesling is generally served at a cool 11 °C (52 °F). Sweeter Rieslings are often served warmer . There exists a large number of commercial clones of Riesling, with slightly different properties. In Germany, approximately 60 clones are allowed, and

946-402: A process in which the alcoholic content is increased through the addition of sugar to the must. In contrast to other Alsatian wines, Rieslings d'Alsace are usually not meant to be drunk young, but many are still best in the first years. Rieslings d'Alsace tend to be mostly very dry with a cleansing acidity. They are thick-bodied wines that coat the palate. These wines age exceptionally well with

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1032-417: A quality vintage aging up to 20 years. This is beneficial since the flavours in an Alsace wine will often open up after three years, developing softer and fruitier flavours. Riesling is very suitable for the late harvest Vendange Tardive and the botrytized Sélection de Grains Nobles , with good acidity keeping up the sweetness of the wine. In addition to Muscat , Gewürztraminer and Pinot gris , Riesling

1118-452: A solera cannot formally have a vintage date because it is a blend of vintages from many years. However, some bottlings are labeled with an age for marketing reasons, which could be the date that the solera was founded. In most instances, It is unclear whether such age indications denotes the average age, or the age of the oldest batch. In Andalusia, the various average age categories, up to 30 years of age at present, are much better documented to

1204-514: A solera since 1948. In Okinawa , Japan , where awamori is made, the traditional system similar to the solera is called shitsugi . The solera process has been used since the 17th century to produce sour ales in Sweden, where it is known as "hundraårig öl" (hundred-year beer). The beer is rarely commercially available, being instead made at the large manors for private consumption. A process of partially emptying and refilling barrels with beer

1290-473: A striking petrol note ( goût de pétrole in French) that is sometimes described with comparisons to kerosene, lubricant, or rubber. While an integral part of the aroma profile of mature Riesling and sought after by many experienced drinkers, it may be off-putting to those unaccustomed to it, and those who primarily seek young and fruity aromas in their wine. The negative attitude to petrol aromas in young Riesling, and

1376-486: A synonym for red-skinned Traminer grapes (such as the Savagnin rose of Klevener de Heiligenstein ) and the obscure variety Hanns , which is a seed plant of Roter Veltliner . Roter Riesling has nothing to do with Schwarzriesling . In the late 19th century, German horticulturalists devoted many efforts to develop new Riesling hybrids that would create a more flexible, less temperamental grape that could still retain some of

1462-518: A vast array of tastes from sweet to off-dry halbtrocken to dry trocken . Late harvest Rieslings can ripen to become very sweet dessert wines of the beerenauslese (BA) and trockenbeerenauslese (TBA) class. Riesling is on record as being planted in the Alsace region by 1477 when its quality was praised by the Duke of Lorraine . Today over a fifth of Alsace's vineyards are covered with Riesling vines, mostly in

1548-865: A year. A solera sherry has to be at least three years old when bottled. A quite similar process is called sostrera , used to produce fortified wines in the Mediterranean regions of France. In Sicily , where Marsala wine is made, the system is called in perpetuum . Solera vinification is used in the making of Mavrodafni ("Black Laurel"), a fortified red dessert wine made in the Northern Peloponnese in Greece . Exceptional Mavrodafni vintages are released every 20 or 30 years: they are of minimal availability and expensive. Vintners in Rutherglen, Australia produce fortified muscat-style and Tokay -style wines using

1634-423: A younger average age (see Aging ). The upper quality levels implied by the labeling system require the bottled wine to be greater in age than the regulatory requirements. The age of product from the first bottling is the number of containers times the aging interval. As the solera matures, the average age of product asymptotically approaches one plus the number of scales (excluding the top scale) (K) divided by

1720-676: Is Gouais blanc , known to the Germans as Weißer Heunisch , a variety that, while rare today, was widely grown by the French and German peasantry of the Middle Ages. The other parent is a cross between a wild vine and Traminer . It is presumed that the Riesling was born somewhere in the valley of the Rhine, since both Heunisch and Traminer have a long documented history in Germany, but with parents from either side of

1806-401: Is a high-quality cross that has recently eclipsed Riesling in plantings. Solera Solera is a process for aging liquids such as wine , beer , vinegar , and brandy , by fractional blending in such a way that the finished product is a mixture of ages, with the average age gradually increasing as the process continues over many years. The purpose of this labor-intensive process is

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1892-455: Is a stark contrast in Riesling production. Although Oregon was once viewed as a promising destination for the grape, Burgundy-style wines came to dominate, while in Washington, large producers such as Chateau Ste. Michelle spearheaded Riesling's growth. Chateau Ste. Michille championed German styles and partnered with well-known German firm Dr. Ernest Loosen to create specialty wines such as

1978-551: Is a white grape variety that originated in the Rhine region. Riesling is an aromatic grape variety displaying flowery, almost perfumed, aromas as well as high acidity. It is used to make dry, semi-sweet, sweet, and sparkling white wines . Riesling wines are usually varietally pure and are seldom oaked . As of 2004 , Riesling was estimated to be the world's 20th most grown variety at 48,700 hectares (120,000 acres) (with an increasing trend), but in terms of importance for quality wines, it

2064-507: Is also grown throughout all the regions in Ohio and is produced and sold at award-winning wineries across the state. In Ontario, Riesling is commonly used for icewine , where the wine is noted for its breadth and complexity. Niagara is a major producer of ice wine in general, putting it neck-and-neck with Germany. Late Harvest wines and some sparkling wines are produced with Riesling in Niagara but it

2150-466: Is also known not just to have survived but also to have been enjoyable at an age exceeding 100 years. The Ratskeller (council wine cellar) of the townhall of Bremen , Germany, stores 650+ German wines, including Riesling-based wines, often in barrel and back to the 1653 vintage. More common aging periods for Riesling wines would be 5–15 years for dry, 10–20 years for semi-sweet and 10–30+ for sweet versions. On release, certain Riesling wines reveal

2236-469: Is an exception with some winters in the wine regions of Palatinate (Pfalz) and Baden using new oak aging. The warmer temperatures in those regions produce heavier wines with a higher alcohol content that can better contend with the new oak. While clearer in individual flavours when it is young, a German Riesling will harmonize more as it ages, particularly around ten years of age. In Germany, sugar levels at time of harvest are an important consideration in

2322-445: Is common for Australian Rieslings to be fermented at low temperatures in stainless steel tanks with no oxidation of the wine, followed by earlier bottling. Australian Rieslings are noted for their oily texture and citrus fruit flavors in their youth and a smooth balance of freshness and acid as they age. The botrytized Rieslings have immense levels of flavor concentrations that have been favorably compared to lemon marmalade. Riesling

2408-450: Is created from carotenoid precursors by acid hydrolysis . The initial concentration of precursors in the wine determines the wine's potential to develop TDN and petrol notes over time. From what is known of the production of carotenoids in grapes, factors that are likely to increase the TDN potential are: These factors are usually also considered to contribute to high-quality Riesling wines, so

2494-612: Is grown in warmer climates (such as Alsace and parts of Austria ). In Australia , Riesling is often noted for a characteristic lime note that tends to emerge in examples from the Clare Valley and Eden Valley in South Australia . Riesling's naturally high acidity and pronounced fruit flavors give wines made from the grape exceptional aging potential , with well-made examples from favorable vintages often developing smokey, honey notes, and aged German Rieslings, in particular, taking on

2580-683: Is one of the acceptable varieties whose planting is allowed in Alsace grand cru sites. In 1838 William Macarthur planted Riesling vines near Penrith in New South Wales . Riesling was the most planted white grape in Australia until the early 1990s when Chardonnay greatly increased in popularity. Riesling still flourishes in the Great Southern of Western Australia (in particular Mt Barker, Frankland River and Porongurup), and in South Australia in

2666-679: Is table wines from dry to off-dry that hold the largest share of production. The climate of the region is typically quite warm in the summertime, which adds a layer of richness in the wines. The founder of St. Urbanshoff in the Mosel, Herman Weiss, was an early pioneer in Niagara's modern viticulture, selling his strain of Mosel clone Riesling to many producers in west Niagara (these vines are well over 20 years old now). This clone and Niagara's summer heat make for uniquely bright wines and often show up in interesting dry styled versions. Many producers and wine critics will argue that Niagara's best offerings come from

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2752-592: Is the growing development of high quality Late Harvest dessert wines. So far, the Late Harvest wines most successfully produced are in the Anderson and Alexander Valleys where the weather is more likely to encourage the needed botrytis to develop. The Riesling that does come out of California tends to be softer, fuller, and having more diverse flavours than a "typical" German Riesling. In the Pacific Northwest, there

2838-402: Is the second leading white grape varietal after the indigenous Grüner Veltliner . Austrian Riesling is generally thick bodied, coating the palate and producing a strong clarity of flavour coupled with a mouthwatering aroma. A particular Austrian Riesling trademark is a long finish that includes hints of white pepper. It flourishes in the cool climate and free-draining granite and mica soil of

2924-543: Is usually included in the "top three" white wine varieties together with Chardonnay and Sauvignon blanc . Riesling is a variety that is highly " terroir -expressive", meaning that the character of Riesling wines is greatly influenced by the wine's place of origin. In cool climates (such as many German wine regions ), Riesling wines tend to exhibit apple and tree fruit notes with noticeable levels of acidity that are sometimes balanced with residual sugar . A late-ripening variety that can develop more citrus and peach notes

3010-549: The Bürgerspital zum Heiligen Geist wine estate, a charitable foundation based in Würzburg. Despite the authentication of the wine originating with the 1540 vintage, some experts dispute the claims that this was oldest wine ever tasted due to more than a century of having "newer" wine being used to top up the barrel—making it almost similar to a solera style wine that contains partial amounts of several vintages. Other contenders for

3096-605: The Adriatic the cross could have happened anywhere on the way. It has also been suggested, but not proved, that the red-skinned version of Riesling is the forerunner of the common, "white" Riesling. The genetic differences between white and red Riesling are minuscule, as is also the case between Pinot noir and Pinot gris . Riesling wines are often consumed when young, when they make a fruity and aromatic wine that may have aromas of green or other apples, grapefruit, peach, gooseberry, honey, rose blossom or cut green grass, and usually

3182-456: The Clare Valley , and particularly in the areas of Watervale and around Polish Hill River, and the cooler Eden Valley and High Eden . The warmer Australian climate produces thicker skinned grapes, sometimes seven times the thickness of German grown grapes. The grapes ripen in free draining soil composed of red soil over limestone and shale , producing a lean wine that, as it matures, produces toasty, honeycomb and lime aromas and flavors. It

3268-722: The Haut-Rhin district, with the varietal Riesling d'Alsace  [ fr ] being very different from neighboring German Riesling. This is partly from difference in the soil with the clay Alsatian soil being more dominately calcareous than the slate composition of Rheingau. The other differences come in wine making styles, with the Alsatian preferring more French-oriented methods that produce wines of higher alcohol content (normally around 12%) and more roundness due to longer time spent in neutral oak barrels or steel tanks. In contrast to German wine laws, Alsatian rieslings can be chaptalized ,

3354-608: The Niagara Escarpment region, which encompasses the Short Hills Bench , 20 Mile Bench, and Beamsville Bench. In British Columbia, Riesling is commonly grown for use in icewine, table wine, and sekt-style sparkling wines, a notable example of which is Cipes Brut. In Nova Scotia, particularly in the Annapolis Valley region, Riesling is showing significant promise, being shaped by the warm summer days with cool nights and

3440-611: The United States ( Washington , California , Michigan , and New York ). Riesling has a long history, and there are several written references to the variety dating from the 15th century, although with varying orthography . The earliest of these references dates from March 13, 1435, when the storage inventory of Count John IV of Katzenelnbogen in Rüsselsheim (close to the Rheingau ) lists "22 ß umb seczreben Rießlingen in die wingarten" ("22 shillings for Riesling vine cuttings for

3526-455: The Wachau region where Austrian wine laws allow for irrigation. With levels normally around 13% it has a relatively high alcohol content for Riesling and is generally at its peak after 5 years. Austrian Riesling is not known for its sweetness and is mostly dry with very few grapes affected by botrytis . In the late nineteenth century, German immigrants brought with them Riesling vines, borrowing

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3612-399: The continental climate of the Franconia region that is often more prone to frost damage than vineyards in other German wine regions like Rheingau and Mosel . The two primary grapes of Würzburger Stein are Riesling and Silvaner. As one of the warmest vineyards sites in Franconia, Würzburger Stein is one of the few vineyards in the region where Riesling is widely grown. The Rieslings from

3698-406: The solera continues. The output of the solera is the fraction of the last scale taken off for bottling each cycle. The amount of product tied up in the solera is usually many times larger than the production. This means that a solera is a very large capital investment for a winemaker. If done with actual barrels, the producer may have several soleras running in parallel. For a small producer,

3784-568: The 1540 vintage. A cask of Steinwein from the Würzburger Stein vineyard was kept by the Prince-Bishop of Würzburg , being regularly "topped" up with newer wine of a similar quality in order to avoid oxidation from the evaporation of what is known as the " angel's share ". The wine was then bottled in the late 17th century. After bottling several bottles were kept in the cellar of King Ludwig I of Bavaria before eventually finding their way to

3870-421: The 1840s the vineyard was visited by French wine writer André Jullien who described the sweet Steinwein from Würzburger Stein as being very potent and liable to cause violent headaches if too much was consumed. Jullien went on to describe that the strength and sweetness of the wines from Würzburger weren't necessarily the result of late harvest picking but rather from the post-harvest practice of drying

3956-1029: The Clare, Barossa, and Eden Valleys in South Australia, and in the southern growing region of Tasmania, though none are as renowned as those from Germany. Riesling is considered one of the grape varieties that best expresses the terroir of the place where it is grown. It is particularly well suited for slate and sandy clay soil. Today Riesling is Germany’s leading grape variety, known for its characteristic “transparency” in flavour and presentation of terroir , and its balance between fruit and mineral flavours. In Germany, Riesling normally ripens between late September and late November, and late harvest Riesling can be picked as late as January. Two common characteristics of German Riesling are that they are rarely blended with other varieties and usually never exposed to oak flavour (despite some vintners fermenting in "traditionel" old oak barrels already leached). To this last item there

4042-544: The Eroica brand. With annual productions of over 2,000,000 cases a year, Chateau Ste. Michelle is the worldwide leader in the production of Riesling wines by volume. In 2007 Pacific Rim Winemakers , another Pacific Northwest winery and owned by Randall Grahm of Bonny Doon , has built the first wine facility in Red Mountain AVA dedicated completely to Riesling production. Riesling from this area ranges from dry to sweet, and has

4128-419: The Franconia region and is today considered to be the patron saint of wine growers in the area. Records from 1665 indicate that a Cistercian abbot planted the first Silvaner vines at the site, making it one of the oldest such planting of the grape variety in Germany. While some production still took place, viticulture on Würzburger Stein declined—as it did in most of Franconia—from the 16th to 19th century as

4214-464: The delicate nature of the Riesling grape requires special handling during harvesting to avoid crushing or bruising the skin. Without this care, the broken skins could leak tannin into the juice, giving a markedly coarse taste and throwing off balance the Riesling's range of flavors and aromas. A wine that is best at its "freshest" states, the grapes and juice may be chilled often throughout the vinification process. Once, right after picking to preserve

4300-609: The elegant characteristics of Riesling. The most notable is the Müller-Thurgau developed in the Geisenheim Grape Breeding Institute in 1882, which is a cross of Riesling and Madeleine Royale (although long believed to be Riesling x Silvaner ). Other Riesling/Silvaner crosses include the Palatinate regional favorite Scheurebe and Rieslaner . Kerner , a cross between Riesling and the red wine grape Trollinger

4386-523: The extension of the growing season that is being observed. The Maritime climate combined with glacial soils contribute to the interesting expressions that are showing. Riesling is also widely grown in Luxembourg (where it represents some 12% of the vineyard), Hungary, Italy , particularly Friuli-Venezia Giulia , Croatia , South Africa , Chile and Central Europe , particularly Romania and Moldova , Serbia , Kazakhstan and Uzbekistan. In wine making ,

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4472-442: The fraction of a scale transferred or bottled (α), or (1 + K/α) . For instance, suppose the solera consists of three barrels of wine, and half of each barrel is transferred once a year. At the end of the third year (and each subsequent year), half the third barrel is bottled. This first bottling is aged three years. The third barrel is then refilled by transferring half of the wine from the second barrel. The wine transferred from

4558-533: The fungus Botrytis cinerea (" noble rot ") or by freezing and pressing (as is the case for ice wine - in German, Eiswein ), water is removed and the resulting ultra concentrated juice is used to make the sweet wines. These wines are felt to offer richer layers on the palate, and have more sugar (in extreme cases hundreds of grams per litre), more acid (to give balance to the sugar), more flavour, and more complexity. These elements combine to make wines that are amongst

4644-499: The grapes out on mats prior to fermentation —making them essentially vins de paille or straw wines. Steinwein also featured prominently in writer/journalist Kurt Tucholsky 's description of a trip to the Spessart published in 1927 under the title Das Wirtshaus im Spessart . Surviving records from contemporary writers notes that the 1540 vintage in German was unusually hot. According to some reports, an extensive drought plagued

4730-471: The grapes' more delicate flavours. Second, after it has been processed through a bladder press and right before fermentation . During fermentation, the wine is cooled in temperature controlled stainless steel fermentation tanks kept between 10 and 18 °C (50 and 64 °F). This differs from red wines that normally ferment at 24 to 29 °C (75 to 84 °F) Unlike Chardonnay , most Riesling do not undergo malolactic fermentation . This helps preserve

4816-401: The last scale is filled, the oldest scale in the solera is tapped for part of its content, which is bottled. Then that scale is refilled from the next oldest scale, and that one in succession from the second-oldest, down to the youngest scale, which is refilled with new product. This procedure is repeated at the end of each aging interval. The transferred product mixes with the older product in

4902-411: The latest regulations for labeling require careful labeling and record-keeping, usually via computer, allowing the winemaker or regulator to easily access the average age of each container, which depends not only on the refreshment interval and number of scales, but also the relative volumes that are chosen for the refreshment process — a larger refreshment and final removal for bottling will result in

4988-510: The low temperatures in winter of the northern German regions would halt fermentation and leave the resulting wines with natural sugars and a low alcohol content. According to local tradition, in the Mosel region the wine would then be bottled in tall, tapered, and green hock bottles. Similar bottles, although brown, are used for Riesling produced in the Rhine region. Riesling is also the preferred grape in production of Deutscher Sekt , German sparkling wine . Riesling wines from Germany cover

5074-792: The maintenance of a reliable style and quality of the beverage over time. Solera means "on the ground" in Spanish, and it refers to the lower level of the set of barrels or other containers used in the process; the liquid is traditionally transferred from barrel to barrel, top to bottom, the oldest mixtures being in the barrel right "on the ground". The containers in today's process are not necessarily stacked physically in this way but merely carefully labeled. Products which are often solera aged include Sherry , Madeira , Lillet , Marsala , Mavrodafni , Muscat , and Muscadelle wines; Balsamic , Commandaria , some Vins doux naturels , and Sherry vinegars; Brandy de Jerez ; beer ; rums ; and whiskies . Since

5160-400: The mentioning of "petrol" as a possible aroma on their German-language Wine Aroma Wheel , which is supposed to be specially adapted to German wines, and despite the fact that professor Ann C. Noble had included petrol in her original version of the wheel. The petrol note is considered to be caused by the compound 1,1,6-trimethyl-1,2-dihydronaphthalene (TDN), which during the aging process

5246-484: The most famous of these have been propagated from vines in the vineyards of Schloss Johannisberg . Most other countries have sourced their Riesling clones directly from Germany, but they are sometimes propagated under different designations. A very rare version of Riesling that has recently received more attention is Red Riesling ( Roter Riesling ). As the name suggests, this is a red-skinned clone of Riesling (a skin color commonly found for, e.g., Gewürztraminer ), but not

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5332-495: The most long lived of all white wines. The beneficial use of "noble rot" in Riesling grapes was discovered in the late 18th century at Schloss Johannisberg . Permission from the Abbey of Fulda (which owned the vineyard) to start picking Riesling grapes arrived too late and the grapes had begun to rot; yet it turned out that the wine made from them was still of excellent quality. Noble rot is employed in many viticultural areas, including

5418-600: The name of Schloss Johannisberg to mark the plants' origin. "Johannisberg Riesling" became a semi-generic name for Riesling until an agreement between the U.S. and EU prohibited its use in 2006. New York , particularly in the Finger Lakes region, was one of the earliest U.S. producers of Riesling. Plantings started to appear in California by 1857 and followed in Washington State in 1871. New York Riesling generally has

5504-411: The next barrel. No container is ever completely drained, so some of the earlier product always remains in each container. This remnant diminishes to a tiny level, but there can be significant traces of product much older than the average, depending on the transfer fraction. In theory traces of the very first product placed in the solera may be present even after 50 or more cycles. In Andalusia, Spain,

5590-459: The origin of this process is the Iberian peninsula, most of the traditional terminology is in Spanish and Portuguese. In the solera process, a succession of containers are filled with the product over a series of equal aging intervals (usually a year). A group of one or more containers, called scales, criaderas ('nurseries'), or clases are filled for each interval. At the end of the interval after

5676-478: The petrol note is in fact more likely to develop in top wines than in simpler wines made from high-yielding vineyards, especially those from the New World, where irrigation is common. The most expensive wines made from Riesling are late harvest dessert wines (often amongst the most expensive in the world), produced by letting the grapes hang on the vines well past normal picking time. Through evaporation caused by

5762-490: The preference for fruitier young wines of this variety, seem more common in Germany than in Alsace or on the export market, and some German producers, especially the volume-oriented ones, have even gone so far as to consider the petrol notes a defect which they try to avoid, even at the cost of producing wines that are less suited to extended cellar aging. In that vein, the German Wine Institute has gone so far as to omit

5848-497: The previous cycle), for an average age of 3.75 years. The third bottling will be an average age of 4.25 years (one half wine that was left over from the second bottling – average age 4.75 years, and one half wine transferred from the second barrel after the second bottling – average age 3.75 years). After 20 years, the output of the solera would be a mix of wine from 3 to 20 years old, averaging very slightly under five years. The average age asymptotically converges on five years as

5934-468: The region and coupled with the heat became so hot that the Rhine river dried up and people could cross the river bed by foot. The heat contributed to an abundant harvest with grapes of exceedingly high ripeness levels and even some reports of the vines not going dormant in the late fall and producing a secondary harvest. As was tradition in many German wine regions to celebrate notable vintages, several large ceremonial casks were filled with wines from

6020-418: The regulatory body and on the bottle labels at present than they were just a decade or two ago. The first written mention of the solera may be in the 1849 inventory of the house of Garvey, though the term was probably in use earlier. This process is known as solera in Spanish, and was developed by the producers of sherry. In a Spanish sherry solera , the vintner may transfer about a third of each barrel

6106-467: The rocky limestone soil of the vineyard located on a hillside outside of the city of Würzburg that overlooks the Main river. The concave shape of the hill and steep incline of the slope give the vines ideal exposure that, coupled with the tempering influence of the nearby river, helps the grapes to fully ripen yet maintain the acidity levels needed to balance the sugars . This offers the site some advantages in

6192-405: The second barrel has an average age of 2.5 years (at the end of year 2, after barrel transfers, it was half 2-year old wine, half 1-year old wine, for an average age of 1.5 years; at the end of year 3, before barrel transfers, it will have aged another year for an average age of 2.5 years). The second bottling will then be half 3.5 years old and half four years old (the wine left in the last barrel at

6278-453: The solera process. In South Australia , some fortified wines (akin to tawny port) are made from blends of Shiraz , Grenache and Mourvedre . Glenfiddich , a Speyside distillery in Scotland , has a 15-year-old whisky that uses a vatting process similar to the solera. The whisky is labelled as their "15 year old single malt Scotch Whisky". For Scotch whisky, the stated age must refer to

6364-584: The spelling Rissling . In Wachau in Austria, there is a small stream and a small vineyard both called Ritzling , which are claimed locally to have given Riesling its name. However, there seems to be no documentary evidence to back this up, so this claim is not widely believed to be correct. Earlier, Riesling was sometimes claimed to have originated from wild vines of the Rhine region, without much support to back up that claim. More recently, DNA fingerprinting by Ferdinand Regner indicated that one parent of Riesling

6450-435: The tart, acidic characteristic of the wine that gives Riesling its "thirst-quenching" quality. (Producers of Sauvignon blanc and Pinot grigio often avoid malolactic fermentation for the same reason.) Riesling is often put through a process of cold stabilization , where the wine is stored just above its freezing point. The wine is kept at this temperature until much of the tartaric acid has crystallized and precipitated out of

6536-485: The title of "oldest wine ever tasted" include a 1646 bottle of Tokay that Australian wine expert James Halliday tasted with fellow writer Len Evans in the early 1970s when it was over 324 years old. Another bottle of wine from the 1646 vintage was sold for $ 700 in a 1984 wine auction in Geneva to a collector from Princeton, New Jersey when the wine was at least 338 years old though there are no details on when that bottle

6622-424: The vineyard are described as having "piquant" acidity that balances the fruitiness of the grape and helps contribute to a characteristic long finish that wines from this vineyard tend to exhibit. The Silvaners tend to be full-bodied and highly aromatic . Riesling Riesling ( / ˈ r iː s l ɪ ŋ , ˈ r iː z l ɪ ŋ / REE -sling, REEZ -ling , German: [ˈʁiːslɪŋ] )

6708-530: The vineyard"). The spelling Rießlingen is repeated in many other documents of the time. The modern spelling Riesling was first documented in 1552 when it was mentioned in Hieronymus Bock's Latin herbal . A map of Kintzheim in Alsace from 1348 contains the text zu dem Russelinge , but it is not certain that this reference is to the grape variety. However, in 1477, Riesling was documented in Alsace under

6794-467: The wine acquires a petrol note as mentioned above. Riesling is almost never fermented or aged in new oak (although large old oak barrels are often used to store and stabilize Riesling-based wines in Germany and Alsace). This means that Riesling tends to be lighter weight and therefore suitable to a wider range of foods. The sharp acidity/sweetness in Rieslings can serve as a good balance to foods that have

6880-433: The wine's production with prädikat levels measuring the sweetness of the wine. Equally important to winegrowers is the balance of acidity between the green tasting malic acid and the more citrus tasting tartaric acid . In cool years, some growers will wait until November to harvest in expectation of having a higher level of ripeness and subsequent tartaric acid. Before technology in wineries could stabilize temperatures,

6966-425: The wine. This helps prevent crystallization of the acid (often called "wine diamonds") in the bottle. After this, the wine is normally filtered again to remove any remaining yeast or impurities. In viticulture, the two main components in growing Riesling grapes are to keep it "Long & Low" meaning that the ideal situation for Riesling is a climate that allows for a long, slow ripening and proper pruning to keep

7052-429: The yield low and the flavor concentrated. Riesling is a versatile wine for pairing with food , because of its balance of sugar and acidity. It can be paired with white fish or pork, and is one of the few wines that can stand up to the stronger flavours and spices of Thai and Chinese cuisine . A Riesling's typical aromas are of flowers, tropical fruits, and mineral stone (such as slate or quartz), although, with time,

7138-566: The youngest of whisky's components. Barrels are emptied into the solera vat and mixed. Then whisky is drawn from the vat to be bottled, with the vat never being more than half emptied. Since the process began in 1998, the vat has never been emptied. In France some producers use the "perpétuelle" method to blend base wines for Champagne across the years for non-vintage Champagne such as Francis Boulard Cuvée Petraea. The oldest port wine producer in America, Old Vine Tinta Solera at Ficklin, has used

7224-413: Was almost like a "living organism" in how it survived so long and still gave evidence of the German terroir of the vineyard. The wine apparently lasted only a few moments after opening before it was quickly oxidized, noted Johnson, "It gave up the ghost and became vinegar in our glasses." An unopened bottle from the 1540 vintage, making it at least 483 years old, is still kept today in the cellars of

7310-595: Was consumed. Several other contender whose dates of consumption are difficult to prove are 328 bottles of Tokay from the 1606 vintage that a Warsaw wine merchant had cataloged in his inventory before the start of World War II when the wine was 333 years old. From the 1939 Invasion of Poland by the Nazi Army to the subsequent Soviet invasion of Poland and Warsaw Uprising in 1944, all 328 bottles that were first catalogued had disappeared—either drunk, broken or looted. The word "stein" in German means "stone" and refers to

7396-576: Was first planted in New Zealand in the 1970s and has flourished in the relatively cool climate of the Marlborough area and for late harvests in the Nelson region. In comparison to Australian Riesling, New Zealand produces lighter and more delicate wines that range from sweet to dry. Central Otago , the home of cool climate wines, has recently emerged as another area producing terroir driven Rieslings. Riesling

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