Wine Wednesday: 2009 Josef Rosch Riesling Trocken

Repeat after me. "Not all Rieslings are sweet. Not all German wines are sweet. I will not dismiss all German wine or all Riesling because I don't like sweet wine."

This seems like a silly exercise, I know. But next to rosé, I don't think there's a more misunderstood wine than Riesling. People dismiss Riesling outright, swatting bottles away like they were an irritating housefly instead of fine wine from a noble grape. And while I also don't think anyone should assume that all wines with residual sugar are bad (see last week's post about pairing a Kabinett-style Riesling with spicy Indian-style chickpeas), I'm not going to attempt to get anyone to embrace Auslese here. No, what I'm talking about this Wine Wednesday is racy, aromatic, spicy, DRY Riesling. Let me repeat: D-R-Y dry Riesling.

We have quite a few dry Rieslings in the store from both Germany and Austria, but the one I'm featuring today is priced right for experimentation. The 2009 Josef Rosch Leiwener Klostergarten Riesling Trocken ($13.99) comes from a tiny little producer in the Mosel. So small is Weingut Josef Rosch, in fact, that I couldn't find much information about them that wasn't in German. Low in alcohol and a delight with spicier dishes (I drank my bottle with Thai Curried Noodles with Pork and Basil), the Rosch smells like cantaloupe, apricots and honeysuckle with just a squeeze of tangerine juice, all of which carry over to the remarkably refreshing palate. Juicy, slightly spicy - like ginger - this finishes completely dry and racy. There's not a lot of this wine, so move on it quick, before the K&L staff snatches up every last bottle.

 Leah Greenstein

Check out these other recent

Wine Wednesday posts:

2008 Fonty's Pool "Single Vineyard" Pinot Noir

Franck Bonville "Brut Selection" Blanc de Blancs Champagne

2007 Unti Vineyards Dry Creek Grenache