Riesling's too often the forgotten wine

 Comparing wines is an interesting exercise.

This week's wine reviews are the result of a particularly generous gesture by Kevin Courtney, the marketing manager at Riverby Estate. Kevin sent us two 2001 rieslings, one under screw cap and the other under cork. The results are interesting. We also look at the differences between vintages in this case 2006 and 2007.

All the wines were good, displaying intense riesling characteristics and we were surprised to discover the residual sugar in the wines was quite low around three grams per litre, because although the palate was invariably dry there was a discernible smack of sweetness in the mix.

Rieslings are, to quote a Bushism, "misunderestimated". They are satisfying and sit well with a huge range of foods; there's nothing difficult about them, yet they are largely ignored in New Zealand. Marlborough produces very fine examples and Riverby Estate rieslings are amongst the best. The 2001 wines aren't available any longer, the '06 may be around in limited quantities and the '07 is current.

Riverby Estate '01

Riesling (screw cap)

Colour: pale green/gold. Aroma: less fruit more mineral, sack and earth aromas. A whiff of old apples provides extra interest. Taste: Soft and luscious with a vague acid tingle. This wine is off dry in style; it's unctuous and tastes of lemon and kero with some steely peripheral flavour. The flavours wash out to a pleasant finish and aftertaste. This wine had lost some of its fruit power yet having made this comment; we felt the screw cap version was okay until we turned to the same vintage sealed under cork. The latter was far superior in terms of flavour intensity, aroma and colour.

Riverby Estate 01

Riesling (cork)

Colour: Old gold (interesting when compared to what was under the screw cap). Aroma: All kerosene and apricots; the smell is almost jammy and a little yeasty. Spiritous with a generous dash of dry earth and flint. Given a vigorous swirl we were reminded of calvados and beeswax here's a wine crying out for tasting.

Taste: Warming, waxy, honeyed, yet there's still some firm acid and a dominant ripe apple flavour. That rich apple taste remains right through to the finish and aftertaste. This wine is as dry as a bone; it tends towards medium-bodied and is a little lacking in length of palate. The aged characteristics have definitely taken over and the wine's flavours are softer, more subtle and integrated yet there's enough intensity teamed with a lovely honeyed sensation to impress the pickiest of palates.

Riverby Estate 06

Riesling

Aroma: Ripe, sweet citrus, mineral, kerosene and honey are the main protagonists in this slightly syrupy smelling wine. Taste: Soft acids combine with weighty, unctuous characteristics resulting is a "chewy" wine. There's enough acid present to keep the luscious flavours in order as citrus and stone fruit flavours march across the palate. This wine has good length and an appealing crisp lemon finish that lingers into the slightly honeyed aftertaste. Very smooth and quite dry an elegant wine with loads of charm.

Riverby Estate 07 Marlborough Dry Riesling

Aroma: This pale lemon straw coloured wine has a waxy lemon/lime and honeysuckle nose with a generous whiff of wet river stones. Fresh, flinty with a dash of crisp apple aroma. Taste: Tingly, lively acids combine with the taste of cider apples and some lovely lemon/lime flavours. Fresh, yet delivering some richness and good length of palate this wine closes with a dry flinty finish and a smack of lemon in the aftertaste. We noted a dash of residual sugar on the palate but, as explained earlier, this perceived sweetness doesn't actually have much to do with residual sugar content at all. The wine is in fact bone dry. An excellent example of young riesling. Price: Around $19 and displaying all the right attributes for cellaring. Try putting some away for five years and see what happens.

- The Marlborough Express