The house grapes · white
Riesling: the German white that wakes up your mouth
Riesling is a white grape that makes wine with lively acidity, aromas of peach, apple and lemon, and that goes from bone-dry to very sweet. It was born in Germany, where it's the most planted grape in the country, and it also shines in Alsace, in France, and in Australia. If a white ever struck you as tart and fruity at the same time, like a peach lemonade, it may have been a Riesling.
Where it comes from
Riesling is German. In VIVC, the international grape catalog, its official name is Riesling Weiss, a white grape of German origin. DNA testing found one of its parents: Heunisch Weiss, an old grape the French call Gouais Blanc. The other parent is still unknown. The same Heunisch is Chardonnay's mother, together with Pinot. In other words: Riesling and Chardonnay are half-sisters, with one parent in common.
The name has a debut date: March 13, 1435, when the word Riesling first appeared in a document, according to the Deutsches Weininstitut, the German wine institute. That's why March 13 became the grape's birthday. The oldest traditions are those of the Rheingau and the Mosel, with papers from 1435 and 1465. In the 17th and 18th centuries, the authorities themselves were already recommending planting Riesling.
What it's like in the glass
Pale yellow color, leaning toward green. On the nose, the German institute speaks of peach and apple; the Alsace wine committee, CIVA, adds lemon, grapefruit, pear and white flowers. What's in charge is the acidity, that lively feeling that makes your mouth water and leaves the sip clean. It's a grape that ripens slowly, which is why it suits cold places, where it finishes ripening in the weak autumn sun.
With the years, some Rieslings pick up an aroma reminiscent of kerosene. It has a name: TDN, a molecule studied by the AWRI, the Australian Wine Research Institute. It comes from the grape's pigments, the carotenoids, and shows up more in grapes that got a lot of sun and in aged bottles. According to the AWRI, half of people can detect TDN in most Rieslings. Some love it and some turn up their noses: both reactions are valid.
What it pairs with
Acidity is food's great partner. The Alsace committee suggests fish, seafood, oysters, chicken and white meat in sauce, and goat cheese. At a Brazilian table, think moqueca (Brazilian fish stew), grilled salmon, camarão na moranga (shrimp served in a pumpkin), roast chicken, pastel de queijo (a fried cheese pastry) and a board of goat cheese. A Riesling with a touch of sugar usually handles spicy food well, like a spicy yakisoba. It's a suggestion: if you liked it with something else, your taste is what counts.
Where it shines today
In Germany, it's queen. In 2024 there were 24,233 hectares, 23.4% of all the country's vineyards, well ahead of the second, Müller-Thurgau, according to figures from the German statistics office compiled by the Deutsches Weininstitut. That's about 45% of all the Riesling in the world. The Pfalz has the largest area, with some 5,900 hectares, followed by Rheinhessen and the Mosel. In the Rheingau, it covers almost 78% of the vineyards.
In Alsace, according to CIVA, Riesling arrived at the end of the 15th century, but only became the region's most planted grape after the 1960s. In Australia, the Clare Valley and the Eden Valley are its homes: together, they accounted for about 41% of the Riesling harvested in the country in the 2026 vintage, according to Wine Australia. In Brazil, the Campanha Gaúcha had only a small area of it in 2015, under the name Riesling Renano, and includes it among the authorized grapes of its Indication of Provenance.
Its other names
In VIVC, the official name is Riesling Weiss, and the list of synonyms has 167 names. The ones that show up most are Riesling, Weisser Riesling, Rheinriesling (or Rhine Riesling, in English), Johannisberger Riesling and White Riesling. In Baden, in southern Germany, the German institute notes that the label may say Klingelberger. In Brazil, the true Riesling appears as Riesling Renano, so it won't be confused with its similarly named cousin.
Here's the catch: Riesling Itálico is another grape. In VIVC it's called Welschriesling, with its origin recorded in Italy and different parents, and the German institute says it has nothing in common with Riesling. It was precisely Riesling Itálico, not Renano, that made history in the Serra Gaúcha: Embrapa names it as one of the region's most important white vinifera grapes, used for varietal whites and as a base for sparkling wine since the 1970s.
The German label in six steps
In Germany, some words on the label tell how ripe the grapes were at harvest. These are the Prädikate, in order: Kabinett, a delicate fine wine from ripe grapes, with little alcohol; Spätlese, picked later; Auslese, from very ripe bunches, with the green berries sorted out by hand; Beerenauslese, from overripe berries touched by noble rot, a friendly fungus that concentrates the sugar; and Trockenbeerenauslese, from berries shriveled like raisins, the top step.
In the middle of the list lives Eiswein, ice wine: the grapes are picked and pressed frozen, at 7 degrees Celsius below zero or colder, and only the concentrated juice comes out. In these wines all the sugar comes from the grape, with nothing added before fermentation. And note: Prädikat is about ripeness, not sweetness. To know if it's dry, look for trocken (up to 4 grams of sugar per liter, or up to 9 if the acidity keeps up), halbtrocken (off-dry) or feinherb, a word with no legal definition, which sits between off-dry and sweet.
Top rated with Riesling
Average rating from the people who drank it (X-Wines), from 1 to 5. Tap to see the wine's page.
- Egon Müller-Scharzhof Scharzhofberger Riesling Ausleserating ★ 4.7
- Franz Hirtzberger Singerriedel-Riesling Smaragdrating ★ 4.6
- Trimbach Clos Sainte Hune Riesling Alsacerating ★ 4.6
- Keller Kirchspiel Riesling GGrating ★ 4.5
- Egon Müller-Scharzhof Scharzhofberger Riesling Spätleserating ★ 4.5
- Keller Riesling Hubacker GGrating ★ 4.5
- Egon Müller-Scharzhof Scharzhofberger Riesling Kabinettrating ★ 4.5
- Markus Molitor Zeltinger Sonnenuhr Riesling Auslese***rating ★ 4.5
See all 559 labels with Riesling in the search →
Spotted something wrong on this page?
Got it, thanks. The house checks the source and fixes it.