Sweet rieslings from Germany

The Riesling grape is probably indigenous to Germany (Europe), and has been planted there since the 14th century. Riesling does the best in Germany and in the Alsace region of France, in California, Austria, Australia, Canada and New Zealand. Riesling produces elegant wines of rich character with an incomparable fragrance and taste, often reminiscent of peaches, or when young, apples.

One of Germany specialty is sweet Riesling and Semi-sweet Riesling, very intensive aromas, low alcohol and delicious taste with high acids and sugar. Excellent desert wine.

There is a special area for Rieslings callled Mosel Valley. Rieslings from  Mosel Valley's are world-famous. This region is situated in three countries - north-eastern France, south-western Germany, and eastern Luxembourg, centred on the river valley formed by the Moselle. 

There are many great wineries in Germany producing this kind of rieslings and here are some of the best:

Dr. Loosen - http://www.drloosen.com/
Old winery with over 200 years history.   When Ernst Loosen assumed ownership in 1988, he dramatically reduced his crop size and stopped all chemical fertilization, preferring only moderate use of organic fertilizers. Ernst turned to gentler cellar practices that allow the wine to develop its full potential with a minimum of handling and technological meddling.

 


Weingut Dönnhoff - http://www.doennhoff.com/
The Dönnhoff family have been making wine in this region since 1750. The vineyard area totals 20 hectares and   75% of the area is planted with Riesling. Both the classical dry Riesling wines, which are matured in old oak vats, and the Eiswein wines of the estate have achieved cult status both in Germany and internationally.

Weingut Markus Molitor - http://www.markusmolitor.com/
Markus Molitor restored the wines of the Moselle valley to their former glory. The Markus Molitor winery currently holds 38 hectares of vineyard with 95% of the area planted with Riesling.

Weingut Egon Müller, Scharzhof - http://www.scharzhof.de/
The estate has been owned by Müller family since the late 18th century. Dominatig for The Scharzhofberg vineyard is Riesling. At the most luxurious end of the spectrum of their products are the wines with full-blown botrytis.

St.Urbans-Hof - http://www.urbans-hof.de/
Winery was founded in 1947 by Nicolaus Weis. In the 1960s his son, Hermann, assumed management of all operations. During Hermann's tenure the nursery expanded to become one of Germany's largest. Today the winery exports to international markets and enjoys worldwide a great reputation for exceptional Riesling wines    

Canadian Ice Wine

We tried to describe you the meaning of term Ice wine in another post. In this one, we want to focus on the best Ice Wine producers from Canada. Why? Because Canadian Ice Wine is probably the most famous over the world. Canada has ideal conditions for producing this kind of wines because of soon winter time. The most known winaries and wines are coming from Niagara region in Ontario and British Columbia. Most used grape varietes for Ice Wines are Vidal, a French cross, Riesling and Cabernet Franc.

Let's check what is Bruce Sanderson from Wine Spectator saying about Ice Wines: "Dessert wines, often rare and expensive, are unique wines and the most difficult to make; but when successful, they earn some of the highest ratings given by our editors. Enlisted to do a specific job in a specific situation, these luscious nectars are the special teams of the wine world. They accompany the dessert course, or even take its place and star on their own. Yet despite delivering high quality more often than not, dessert wines are generally misunderstood, underestimated or simply ignored."

Because it's a bit expensive to produce such wines, the price is a bit higher than usual. But what you got for your money is the most concentrated wine, with high residal sugar (about 200 grams/liter and more), very fruity and sweet like a honey. That's why this kind of wines always stay on the top of wineries production.

Some of the best Ice wine producers in Canada are:

Peller Estates - http://pellericewine.com/
Peller Estates Icewine was awarded the BEST ICEWINE TROPHY at the International Wine & Spirits Competition in London, UK for 2007.

Château de Charmes - http://www.chateaudescharmes.com/
Winery with long history which started in the Alsace region of France more than five generations ago.

Chateau Ste Michelle - http://www.ste-michelle.com/
Chateau Ste Michelle got the highest rating ever by Wine Spectator for a very limited ice wine.

Inniskillin - http://www.inniskillin.com/
This winery is settled in two regions - Niagara and the Okanagan and is producing the best Ice Wines in the World from both regions.