German Reisling

[hotwine]

It's strange how Riesling grapes can produce wines of such completely different flavor profiles as, say, Mosel and Rheingau. I really enjoyed Rheingau while living in Wiesbaden in the mid-'70's, but I think a lot of that enjoyment came from pairing it with traditional dishes of pork and cabbage prepared in the particular style of the Wiesbadeners. Recall that it was also delightful with Edam and Gouda cheeses. Yet its characteristics don't lend themselves so readily to pairing with seafood, or poultry, IMO, or a pasta dish - yet a Mosel handles those chores with ease. I've never done any research on the production methods in those regions, simply assuming, rightly or wrongly, that the differences were attributable to terroir. I do recall that the Germans seemed to regard Rheingau as a more regal wine than the slightly journeyman Mosel, but maybe that was simply the inate snobbery of the Wiesbadeners showing through in their preference for wines produced on their doorsteps. For whatever reason, I lost my taste for Rheingau a long time ago, and there are very few representatives in the cellar - a Kloster Eberbach or two, and maybe three or four others. One thing the mere sniff of a Rheingau can do in my head is conjure up visions of some young German ladies I knew in those days..... yes, they're best left in the cellar....