My favorite book on wine, Karen MacNeil’s The Wine Bible, says “The Mosel is where Germany’s most ravishingly elegant wines are made.”
Ravishingly elegant. Sounds worth trying.
But Mosel Valley wines are a challenge, for three reasons.
- In general, German wines are hard to understand and, because of this, many consumers either avoid them or simply get wines not suited to their tastes. Yet, again from The Wine Bible: “The best German wines are, in many ways, what all wine aspires to be: an expression of fruit so vivid and pure that it is lifted up out of the ponderous, corporeal world of humanity and becomes a spiritual experience.”
- Many wine drinkers, among them many of my friends, are seemingly stuck on big, bold red wines. Yet white wines like the majority of what comes from the Mosel Valley can be subtle yet entrancing, full of flavors that require patience and an open mind to fully appreciate. The balance of acidity and fruit in excellent white wines produces an amazing taste that has as much flavor as your typical big red wine. I would actually argue wine drinkers need to progress beyond bold red wines to be able to appreciate white wines.
- German Rieslings, the main wine from the Mosel Valley, are misunderstood by American wine drinkers. From the brand-new book Riesling Rediscovered: “Riesling is a personal favorite of many sommeliers, chefs, and other food and wine professionals for its appealing aromatics, finesse, and minerality; for its uncanny ability to reflect terroir; and for its impressive versatility with cuisines of all types. It is stylistically paradoxical, however. Now usually made dry in most of Europe and Australia, and assumed dry by most German consumers, Riesling is made mostly sweet or lightly sweet in North America and is believed sweet in the American marketplace irrespective of origin. Riesling is thus consequently—but mistakenly—shunned by the mainstream of American wine drinkers.”
Luckily, the best way to conquer this challenge of Mosel wines is to jump right in and try some. I did just that, purchasing two wines at my local liquor store.
- The first, a 2012 Auslese Riesling from Peter Adler winery, cost less than 10. The Auslese terminology means the grapes were picked late in the harvest for added sweetness and ripeness. Yet, true to the typical German wine, the high levels of acidity in the wine balanced the sweetness very nicely. It was a pleasant, easy wine to drink.
- The second, a 2014 Riesling from Clean Slate winery, can be had for as low as 8 online. (The brand is a partnership of a Germany winery and a US importer.) The wine had amazingly strong fruit flavors – and not the flavor of grapes but of fruits like pear, peach, and apricot. It was amazingly refreshing and light and the low alcohol of 10.5% meant it would appeal to many who don’t want to get too tipsy on a spring or summer afternoon.
In short, the two Mosel wines I tried were excellent at incredibly reasonable prices. My suggestion? Go to the store, pick out a few bottles of what is available, and do your own tests. Then join us on our Mosel Valley Bike Adventure this coming August 6 – 12!