Sugar, sugar, sugar

[wondersofwine]

I just read last night part of Terry Theise's new catalog on the German wines he represents. He talked about the misconceptions concerning German wines and the people who avoid them because "I don't like sweet wines (or dessert wines)." One of the points he was making was that Riesling has a high acidity characteristic which in good wines balances the residual sugar so that the wine may seem drier than a lot of Chardonnays even though it has residual sugar. I think some newbies who are used to drinking soft drinks like Coca Cola and Pepsi might really like German Rieslings and maybe should taste a number of them before making the jump to red wines. I started out with Rieslings and Scheurebe wines while living in Germany and expanded to Valpolicella, Chianti, Lambrusco, red Burgundies, etc. before getting into Cabernet Sauvignon, Syrah, Zinfandel, etc.
(Riesling and Pinot Noir are still my favorite varietals).