Riesling continues to be undervalued among non-wine geeks, but I can’t get enough. Recently, I explored some New World Rieslings.
Exploring Riesling
Riesling is an aromatic white with high acid that almost never sees malolactic fermentation or new oak. Therefore, it’s a wine that really shows off the variety and sense of place. The variety, especially with age, often exhibits notes of petrol, and depending on the terroir, it can often be minerally/slatey in addition to its intense fruit flavors. The acidity and light body makes it great with all sorts of foods from salads and seafood to pork and chicken. Off-dry Riesling is a great pairing for spicy, ethnic foods as well. Finally, it’s a wine that can age well because of its acidity and residual sugar in late-harvest versions.
Most Riesling outside of Germany tends to be dry or off-dry while with German Riesling you have to read the label carefully to know.* For most occasions, I prefer dry Riesling, so I’ve made it a point to try more non-German Riesling.
Although I’ve reviewed Chilean Riesling before, more and more Rieslings are popping up here from various regions, so I picked one. I’ve also looked at America’s two most popular places for Riesling: Washington State and New York, but this time I found a Riesling from Oregon. I did have a Riesling from Clare Valley, Australia set up from this comparison too, but a family member “accidentally” drank it before I could get to it. Nonetheless, you should know that the Clare and Eden Valley in Australia are known for high quality Riesling. This family member can vouch for that, and I’ve had excellent ones in the past. For this comparison, I found a New Zealand Riesling instead.
*I have some Old-World Rieslings to taste this year for future posts, so I’ll wait till then to explain how to read labels to know if it’s a dry, off-dry or sweet Riesling (Wine Folly has a short video though). 
Tasting Notes
2022 Framingham Classic Riesling Marlborough
One of the most well-known Riesling producers in New Zealand. Originally planted in 1981, some of the oldest Riesling in the region. 12.5% alcohol. Past vintages list it at around 20g/l residual sugar. Despite the 12.5% alcohol, which often means it’s a dry Riesling, the 20 g/l residual sugar also means it’s off-dry, and it’s confirmed on the palate. Overall, this is a powerful, fruit driven wine (lots of apple and ripe mandarin) with some sweetness and then acidity and a bit of salinity/minerality on the back-end. It’s more like an off-dry Kabinett German Riesling, but more focused on the fruit and less minerality and petrol notes. 91
2020 Montgras Handcrafted Rare Series Riesling Mulchén Bio-Bio
100% Riesling grown on red clay soil. 5 months lees contact. All stainless steel. The nose starts off fruity, citrus and floral notes and then savory, yeasty notes with time. The palate is also loaded with upfront white fruit and peach but the acid and salinity make their presence known after. Although it’s fruit forward like the Framingham, there’s less sugar overall, so I’d still call this dry rather than off-dry like the Framingham. 90 
2021 Hyland Estate “Old Vine” McMinnville Riesling
Planted in the 1970’s. McMinnville is the most westerly AVA of Willamette Valley. Here you have higher elevation and more ocean influence, so it makes sense to grow Riesling here. However, it’s only about 5% of the plantings in McMinnville which grows mostly Pinot Noir. 7.5 grams of residual sugar. Fruit driven but tart and dry Riesling. Ripe grapefruit and some tropical fruit. A touch floral. Slightly fizzy feel. A touch of salinity. 91
**As a bonus, I recently had a German Riesling, so it’s interesting to add this to the comparison.
2022 Donnhoff Oberhäuser Leistenberg Riesling Kabinett Nahe
Although most German Riesling you run across tend to be from Mosel, Rheingau and Pfalz, this one comes from Nahe, one of Germany’s smaller wine regions. Donnhoff is certainly one of the top producers from Nahe. Their Leistenberg Riesling comes from slate soils on steep slopes. It’s designated VDP. GROSSE LAGE, which is the top classification for German vineyards. 
8.5% alcohol. Organic with FairnGreen certification. Clay and slate soils. High intensity on the nose and palate with white peach, green apple and lots of citrusy acidity keeping it from being too sweet. Off-dry, but could be versatile with lots of stuff. Lots of salinic minerality too. 93
Conclusion
These were all tasty Rieslings that you can’t go wrong with. Two of them were off-dry, but with Riesling’s acidity, it’s rarely cloying. Of course, I ended up liking the German Riesling best, and the main difference is just the amount of salinity and minerality you get in it while the New World ones were mostly fruit driven with some floral notes. None of these were expensive. Even the German one I got for $25, so Riesling remains a great value. Go out and find some Riesling now!
Let me know your favorite Riesling in the comments.