I hope you all survived Thanksgiving and that your cholesterol levels are coming down slowly…
This Sunday, I am finally posting something connected with Riesling again. I read this blog entry the other day and thought it was an excellent piece. Author Talia Baiocchi is making the case for why Mosel rieslings need more residual sugar to achieve balance. The article shows convincingly why balance might mean different sugar and alcohol levels for different grapes and different regions. In my mind, she totally nailed it with Mosel riesling.
Happy Sunday!
the winegetter 
Interesting article. I knew Mosels were generally sweeter than Rheingaus, but I did not know that the grapes were more acidic because of the slate soil and cooler temps. Very interesting.
Yes, indeed. The Rhine valley is one of the warmest areas in Germany, while the Mosel valley is usually several degrees celsius less warm than the Rhine valley.
Your Sunday reads are always great!
it is interesting to see a concept of balance applied to particular grapes – to me balance is balance, it can be only applied to the finished wine – and balance simply means that all components of wine are in harmony – fruit, sweetness, acidity, body, mouthfeel, etc. If we take icewine as a an example, which is an epitome of sweet wines, best of the icewines have an ultimate balance, such as Inniskillin Cab Franc Icewine, which I had pleasure tasting.
So she argues that Mosel Rieslings need more sugar to appear balanced? May be – I’m not entirely convinced that this is the way to look at balanced versus non-balanced wines…
Thank you so much for your comment! I agree with you that balance is balance in the final product, and it does not matter how that is achieved. The way I read the article it was more of an encouragement to not focus on single issues in wines, in this case residual sugar. Many wine drinkers still shy away from rieslings with more residual sugar, just because sugar is equaled with “bad”. The author, at least to me, seems to make the case that just because a riesling might have higher sugar levels, it should still be tried because the result might be just what you and I both want: balance.
Have you ever tried a Mosel riesling ice wine? They are some of the most intense balanced wines I know with their overwhelming sweetness and high acidity, the heavy silky textures and body….sigh.
Great article.