DiningBuzz! - Alsatian Grand Cru Riesling

I never had one until a couple of nights ago. I almost wish I never had, because it was quite a nice thing. I'd like some recommendations because what I had doesn't appear to be available retail in the US. Yum.

Im sure a decent California Retailer should be able to source these for you... they may have to special order but it should be doable. All these producers are very interested in the US market...

Im sure a decent California Retailer should be able to source these for you... they may have to special order but it should be doable. All these producers are very interested in the US market...

I'm sure they are available (probably at Kermit Lynch, close to home) but I would like recommendations in advance from some tasteless FTers :D (as opposed to "people with taste.")

I'd love to see some good Riesling suggestions in general. My husband and I visited the Rheingau region of Germany a couple years ago and we were shocked at the quality available in the $5-$20 range. All of the German imports here seem to fall into the $20-$40 range and it all seems like the sweet sorority girl wine that I remember from college, not the fantastic well-balanced stuff we experienced in Germany.

I had a bottle of Hugel Riesling a week ago and it was good (better than decent, but not superb, also not Grand Cru). However the price was shocking; AUD 40 in Sydney (retail). It was USD 10 in SF a few years ago (but the USD has tanked against the Euro since then; so all the good German wines are probably in the >USD 30 range now). There are plenty of Aussie rieslings that are quite competitive with German ones for 1/3 of the German price (a bit different style, but every bit as good and full of complexity and subtle flavours).

Zind-Humbrecht and Weinbach (especially the vintage stuff) are excellent and relatively widely available.

I had a bottle of Leeuwin Art Series Riesling (Western Australia) which is quite competitive with the best Alsatian Rieslings and in a fairly similar style (unlike US rieslings which are completely different and not competitive, for example). Well worth seeking out for those who like this special style of wine.

I had a Meyer-Fonne Wineck-Schlossberg 2006 last night. It was very enjoyable, but not outstanding.

You asked for it, you’ve got it:

Riesling suggestions:

Alsatian:

Marcel Deiss Rielsing (*I had the 2007 and it was very fun)

Germany:

1. Van Volxem (Mosel, Germany) Saar Riesling (*not as dry as I would like, more old style sweetish)

2. Weingut Joh. Jos. Prum (Mosel, Germany)Wehlener Sonnenuhr Riesling Kabinett

3. Freherr Langwerth von Simmern (Rheingau, Eltwille, Germany) Erbacher Marcobrunn Riesling Kabinett

The Gisselbrecht Riesling Grand Cru Muenchberg 2005 is very good, indeed. It runs about 20 euros in Finland so it is probably in the $ 25 - 30 range Stateside.

The Zind-Humbrechts are excellent but they are pretty hard to get and tend to be very expensive.

Cheers,
T.