History of Riesling

[Randy Caparoso]

Randy's going to be a Johnny-Come-Lately on this thread, if you don't mind, gentlemen.

I didn't start in the wine business in the Middle Ages. It was more like the Rennaissance -- in 1975. Back then, the public's favorite wines were: Blue Nun Liebfraumilch, Mateus, Lancer's, Inglenook Chenin Blanc, and Wente Grey Riesling. The fancy folks drank Lafite, Latour, and B.V. Private Reserve. The cutting-edge guys drank Ridge Zinfandel, Robert Mondavi Fume Blanc, and Piesporter Goldtropfchen Spatlese (Muller Scharzhofberger or J.J. Prum Wehlener Sonnenuhr if they were really hip). And everyone who wasn't into Cold Duck was digging Mumm's Extra Dry or Cordon Rouge Brut.

Did you notice any mention of Chardonnay? No siree. Although "boutiques" like Montelena and Freemark Abbey were making waves in the late '70s with their Chardonnay, it wasn't until the early '80s that retailers and restaurateurs were able to move significant boxes of this varietal. As a matter of fact, Kendall-Jackson and Glen Ellen played the major roles in this movement. As good a job as guys like Mike Grgich, Dick Arrowood and Rik Forman did with the grape, it was really Jess Jackson and the Benzinger family who put Chardonnay on every wine drinking American's table. You also have to remember, this was the heyday of White Zinfandel (thank you, Sutter Home, for your sweet and bitter fruit).

So all things considered -- all the Blue Nuns, Lancers, White Zins, fake Rieslings and even real German Rieslings that we had to sell -- is it any wonder that wine guys like me welcomed the sudden explosion of interest in Chardonnay with open arms? Why not? Chardonnay makes full flavored, complex, seriously dry wine. By the 1980s, I was sick of selling fruity, frothy wines. The sudden appreciation of Chardonnay was almost God-send. It is, after all, the "queen" of white grapes, as even Hugh Johnson (Riesling fancier as he is) once said.

This is why I continue to find the criticism of Chardonnay so puzzling. No one, after all, has ever acused ME of being preoccupied with Chardonnay. My restaurants offer an incredible variety of white wine types. But you'll never find me disdainful of any truly noble grape -- be it Riesling, Chardonnay, Pinot Gris/Grigio, Chenin Blanc, Semillon, or even things like Rolle, Roussanne, Gruner Veltliner, Grechetto, Picpoul, and Albarino. All these, and much more, are good and useful in their own way. Chardonnay, no less; although in reality, more so than others.

No, gentlemen, Chardonnay is not the "problem." It is actually an extraordinarily good stopping-off-point for the legions of consumers who will soon discover other white wines on their own. And they will, if history tells us anything. Times, and tastes, change. Constantly. This is no time for grousing. The trick is to gently steer people to other "discoveries" -- not so much because the old stuff was so bad, but because the new stuff can be just as good or better!