Riesling
Germany's flagship white wine grape — aromatic, high in acidity, and made in styles from bone-dry to lusciously sweet along the Rhine and Mosel.
Region
Rhineland-Palatinate — Rheingau, Mosel, and the Rhine valley
Spice Level
(0/5)
Diet
Vegetarian
Where to Try
Wine taverns (Weinstuben) and cellars of the Mosel and Rheingau; wine festivals along the Rhine in late summer.
Riesling is Germany's signature white wine grape and one of the world's great whites. First documented in the Rheingau in the 15th century, it thrives on the steep slate slopes of the Mosel and along the Rhine in Rhineland-Palatinate. Riesling ranges from bone-dry (trocken) to off-dry and richly sweet late-harvest wines, always marked by bright acidity and aromas of orchard fruit, citrus, and — with age — petrol-like minerality. Tasting Riesling in a Mosel or Rheingau wine village, often paired with the autumn wine festivals, is a highlight of a Rhine-country trip.