Riesling, whether dry or medium, should be fresh and lively with a steely finish to cut through rich or sweetish foods like mayonnaise of some Asian dishes.
Sometimes this can be challenging - I thought Antonio Pasquale hit the nail on the head when he described his Pasquale Hakataramea riesling as "not a wine for comfort, but to make you study what you are eating".
Mills Reef Hawkes Bay Riesling 2009
$18
A cheerful fruit salady wine, redolent with ripe peaches, cape gooseberries, mango, pineapple, pawpaw and marmalade, and a crisp, tingly finish.
3 stars (out of 5)
Good value
Bouldevines Marlborough Riesling 2009
$19.99
A lighter style with hints of muscat, peach and ripe apples, a delicate, flinty palate and bright intensity on the finish.
3 stars (out of 5)
Good value
$23
Fragrant with hints of lime and lemon blossom, a fleshy palate, bright intensity and a zingy dry crispness on the finish.
This will benefit from a year or so's bottle age.
4 stars (out of 5)
Good value
$23
Tight with hints of lime and mineral, a citrus intensity that fills the palate and an exciting, steely dry finish.
This newly released wine already has a year's bottle age, but will continue to develop for a while yet.
4 stars (out of 5)
Good value
$29
This almost always turns out to be my favourite in a blind line-up like this.
Fragrant with stonefruit, lime and tropical aromas and just a hint of dried apricots and honey, this is off-dry but with a well-balanced, tingly finish.
5 stars (out of 5)
Good value
$22
Zingy lime and lemon with a hint of tropical sweetness and a crisp, lip-sucking but nicely balanced finish.
3 stars (out of 5)
Average value
Te Mania Nelson Riesling 2009
$19
Attractive, off-dry and easy to drink, with hints of tropical fruit and citrus and a bright, zingy finish.
3 stars (out of 5)
Good value
Neudorf Brightwater Nelson Riesling 2008
$22
A zesty, zingy wine with hints of citrus, stone fruit and mineral and a rich mouthfeel and crisp finish. Nicely balanced.
3 stars (out of 5)
Average value
Muddy Water Waipara Dry Riesling 2009
$29
Tight and steely with hints of buttered toast and lime marmalade and a zingy, lingering finish.
4 stars (out of 5)
Average value
Mount Beautiful Cheviot Hills Riesling 2009
$24
Attractive off-dry style with hints of citrus and lemon, the faintest suggestion of toffee in the background and a bright intensity on the finish.
3 stars (out of 5)
Below average value
Pasquale Hakataramea Riesling 2009
$30
A steely, flinty wine with restrained hints of apples and white peach, and a very dry finish that begs for rich seafood, like scallops to show its best.
3 stars (out of 5)
Below average value
Olssens Annieburn Central Otago Riesling 2009
$25
Medium sweet with oodles of tropical fruit - mango, pineapple, a suggestion of fresh herbs and an intense steely, dryish finish that seesaws between sweet and sour, a bit like a good marmalade.
4 stars (out of 5)
Average value
Foxes Island Marlborough Riesling 2008
$34
A textural wine with a broader range of flavours and more weight than most other rieslings, this has had three months on yeast lees, but still has the typical zesty lime, lemon and mineral flavours and a zingy, well balanced finish.
4 stars (out of 5)
Below average value
Mt Rosa Central Otago Riesling 2007
$22
Three years old and more of an off-dry white than a typical zingy riesling, this is softer with a creamy hint of nuts, but has an attractive, clean finish.
3 stars (out of 5)
Below average value
Spy Valley Envoy Marlborough Dry Riesling 2008
$29
Unusually for a riesling, this has been fermented in large, old barrels which brings a faint hint of nuts and toffee and a firm, textural mouthfeel to the lime and tropical fruit flavours and crisp, tingly finish.
4 stars (out of 5)
Average value
Although wine sent for review is tasted blind to eliminate preconceptions, all wine tasting and evaluation is subjective. These are personal recommendations.
- charmian.smith@odt.co.nz
Two stars - simple, clean, enjoyable wine; three stars - good wine with varietal characteristics; four stars - very good wine with some outstanding characteristics; five stars - outstanding wine with balance and harmony that leaves you with a sense of wonder.
