After looking at New World Riesling, I wanted to re-examine Old World Riesling. Is there a difference between Riesling from Mosel and Riesling from Alsace?
Discovering Riesling
In my wine exploration journey, I started as a red wine lover. It’s easy to like big, round fruity and chocolatey California Cabs as your gateway wine in the US. Then as you explore more Old World reds, you start caring more about terroir and liking higher acid, more food friendly wines like Pinot Noir. Craving that acidity, terroir and food pairing friendliness leads you to white wines like Riesling, which many wine lovers feel is the world’s greatest white wine. It’s certainly a variety I’ve been drinking a lot more of recently.
However, Riesling still remains underrated and undervalued in the market despite its complexity and major ageability. Some of this has to do with its connection to Germany. Most people think of French wines and varieties as the epitome of fine wine and not German wine. Plus, there’s less of it. Similarly, most people can barely understand French labels let alone German ones, so they end up having a bad experience by getting Rieslings that are sweet when they’re looking for a dry wine. Therefore, I also wanted to briefly talk about reading Riesling labels and explore the two most famous regions for Riesling: Mosel and Alsace.
Mosel vs. Alsace
Although Alsace is currently part of France, it has a long history of being occupied and controlled by Germans. It was returned back to France after WWI although it was briefly controlled by Germany during WWII. Like with much of Europe, it was the Romans who brought wine production to Germany, and the best wine regions for Riesling are along the Rhine river which flows through the Alsace and top German regions like Rheinhessen, Pfalz, and Rheingau while the Mosel and Nahe regions are along their eponymous rivers, which are tributaries to the Rhine. Therefore, there’s a cultural, historical and geographic connection between Alsace and German winemaking.
Of course each German region has their particular terroir, style and famous producers, but I just wanted to focus on its most famous, Mosel, to compare with Alsace. One major difference is that Alsace also makes large productions of other varieties like Gewurztraminer, Pinot Gris and Pinot Blanc; The Mosel is 93% Riesling while Alsace is only 32%. Both have a continental climate and have hillside vineyards of various soils although Mosel is well-known for its slate soil, which gives it its crisp minerality. Alsace is a lot more diverse with marl, limestone, schist, granite, volcanic and alluvial soils in contrast.
In terms of the taste and style of the wines, we have to first mention that Mosel makes more sweet late-harvest and semi-dry wines than Alsace. However, more German Riesling producers are making drier versions than a few decades ago to meet international demand. Therefore, it’s important to read the labels (see below). When comparing the dry Rieslings, Mosel tends to be lower in alcohol, lighter and more acidic because it’s cooler, less sunny and rainier. In contrast, Alsace Rieslings will be fuller and higher in alcohol. Even with the dry versions, Alsace is generally drier while Mosel Rieslings have more fruit and more residual sugar (hence lower alcohol). However, these are just generalizations. I’m curious to see what this particular comparison brings.
Alsace Labels
First of all, more Riesling producers in general are making back labels that show a scale of the sweetness vs dryness that can help consumers.
Alsace is generally going to be dry to semi-dry unless you specifically see terms like: Moelleux (sweet, lightly sweet)), liquoreux (dessert wine), Vendanges Tardives (late harvest), and Sélections de Grains Nobles (Late harvest with Botrytis). However, really only the latter two are used in Alsace.
Alsace Rieslings may also be labeled Grand Cru (with the name of vineyard) to indicate it comes from a specific parcel, which could be important for not only determining quality but the type of terroir and characteristics of the wine if you know the individual vineyard sites well just like with Burgundy. The Grand Cru label is not only for Riesling either.
German Riesling Labels
German Riesling labels are harder to interpret because there are more types of Rieslings to choose from. Here are some terms to know to determine the style and sweetness of the wine:
Kabinett: A fruity, light style that can be dry to semi-dry.
Spätlese: Late harvest, picked at least a week later, which makes richer and sweeter wines than Kabinett.
Auslese: Selected harvest, and are usually riper and sweeter than Spätlese. Could have some botrytis.
Beerenauslese: Berry selection, with even riper grapes and only berries with botrytis, which make thicker, richer sweet wines.
Trockenbeerenauslese: Are sweet wines made from dried grapes.
Eiswein: Are Beerenauslese level ripe grapes that are pressed while frozen.
In addition, you may see terms to indicate how dry it is:
Trocken: Dry (up to 9g/l of residual sugar). The most common is Kabinett Trocken, which is what you’re looking for if you want a dry German Riesling. However, there are Spätlese Trocken and Auslese Trocken, which are extremely powerful and high in alcohol since they convert all that sugar into alcohol to make it dry.
Halbtrocken (or Feinherb): Medium-Dry (up to 18g/l of residual sugar)
Although some back labels may tell you the amount of residual sugar, another way to estimate how dry a wine is is the alcohol level. If the alcohol level is 12.5% or higher, then the wine is likely dry with little residual sugar. If it’s below 12.5%, then it might show some sweetness or be off-dry. If it drops down to 9 or 8%, then it’s definitely a sweet wine.
Lastly, German labels usually list the village and vineyard like in France along with other classification labels for quality. There are tiers that are based on the quality of the wine and where the wine comes from (from highest to lowest): Prädikatswein, Qualitätswein bestimmter Anbaugebiete, Deutscher Landwein, and Deutscher Wein. VDP (with an Eagle logo) is another label that shows quality. It’s an association of the top producers, and they also add terms like Grosse Lage (Grand Cru) and Erste Lage (Premier Cru) to indicate the best vineyards like in France. Grosses Gewachs (GG) are Trocken wines made from Grosse Lage vineyards.
*FYI, Austrian wines use a lot of the same terms for wine styles and sweetness levels if you’re looking for an Austrian Riesling.
Tasting Notes
2017 Clemens Busch Gutswein Trocken Riesling Mosel
I found this for about $25 on sale in Chile. The color of the capsule is dark gray, which is supposed to indicate the color of the slate of where the vines are grown on. It also shows the VDP logo. This comes from the plains of Pünderich with south/southeast exposure. Vines are up to 60 years old. Biodynamic. Stainless steel fermentation with malolactic only in riper years. Minimal sulfur and filtration. This is their entry-level wine, but much of it is sourced from their top grand cru sites.
The nose shows some minerality and petrol at first and then fruit and floral notes. The palate is medium-bodied, more of an oilier texture than average (due to a bit of age or was it a malolactic year?–this was a vintage with frost damage early on which lowered yields but with many hot, sunny days after, so there was increased concentration), pineapple fruit and electric acidity. A bit cidery. Mild savory notes. The palate is more intense than the nose at the moment. Definitely dry even though it’s at a borderline 10.5% alcohol. I think this is the perfect entry-level German Riesling for newcomers because it’s varietally correct but more fruit driven on the palate but not sweet nor as minerally and salty as some German Rieslings can be. 91 Even better the second day, with more precision and lingering salinity on the palate. Much more what I think of Mosel.
2018 Gustave Lorentz Riesling Grand Cru Altenberg de Bergheim Alsace
I found this for 24 euros at the Charles de Gaulle Airport. Organic/BIO. Clay-limestone soil with southern exposure. Medium+ body and high alcohol at 13.5% compared to the Mosel Riesling. The Mosel I could still pair with hot spicy foods while the alcohol in this Alsace Riesling might accentuate the heat. There’s fruit and floral notes on the nose but the palate is mostly about acidity, salinity and minerality. The Mosel was more fruit forward on the palate at first and it took time for the salinity and minerality to show. Good length and intensity especially on the palate. Still needs to open up and integrate some. 91
Conclusion
Which is better? Well it depends on your palate and the pairing. If you want more fruit and perhaps a bit of sweetness to pair with hot spicy foods like Thai and Indian, then a lower alcohol, off-dry to sweet Riesling might be the best pairing to deal with the heat. That means a Kabinett with a lower alcohol or Spätlese and Auslese wines. I might prefer a typical dry Alsace Riesling with white meat or a saucy fish dish. If I had to choose one for a party without knowing what type of food is going to be served, I would pick a German Kabinett or Kabinett Trocken because it should pair well with everything with its high acidity and low alcohol. Plus, it won’t be too sweet.
Overall, Riesling hasn’t even come close to the average prices of White Burgundy, so wine geeks can continue to get their favorite white wine at reasonable prices and in different styles for different pairings as long as you understand the labels correctly.