Ever wondered why riesling is not as popular as chardonnay? Or why pinot grigio is as popular as it is? Could it be because a lot of people like character in their wine but not too much. Riesling is an acquired taste because its thrilling bite is more a challenge compared to the crowd-pleasing delights of chardonnay or pinot grigio.

Riesling has also been the innocent victim of the poor publicity meted out to its lesser middle European counterparts and suffered at the hands of producers who used to think it necessary to add sugar to help the medicine go down. As a dry style, its reputation has been resurrected by the deliciously zesty fresh rieslings of Australia. The 2010 Jacob’s Creek Riesling, £7.79, Waitrose, with its refreshingly dry lime zesty fruit quality and bone dry finish, is as good a place as any to start. For its lemon and lime zest and tang, the 2009 Barossa Cross Riesling, £7.99, Laithwaites (laithwaites.co.uk), is in similar vein.

The capacity to improve with age gives riesling its extra dimension. Take a great Aussie riesling such as the 2010 Crawford River Riesling Henty, £23.80 Imbibros (imbibros.co.uk), intensely aromatic with impressive tropical fruit opulence and refreshing zest. It will age beautifully. At four years of age, the floral Kiwi 2008 Thornbury Riesling, £10.44, Tesco.com/wine, is already morphing into a wine with toasty and honeyed qualities, suggesting sweetness but finishing dry.

For all that the New World has contributed to its revival, it’s riesling’s own heartland of Germany itself that’s now in the forefront of the dry revolution. Yes, we still tend to think of German riesling as on the sweeter side. Delicately crisp, fresh and citrusy styles like the 2010 Dr Loosen Graacher Himmelreich Riesling Kabinet, £11.99, Sainsbury’s, make that point forcefully. Appetising off-dry whites such as the peachy 2010 Mineralstein Riesling, Pfalz, £8.49 at Marks & Spencer, with its zesty freshness, reinforce it.

Thanks to an emphasis on wines to drink with food, German riesling has re-invented itself. In the last five years, drier styles of riesling have overtaken both its off-dry and sweet counterparts. It’s a trend that’s set to continue, placing Germany centre stage as the wine-producing country with the greatest expression of fine dry rieslings in the world.

You might try the 2009 Georg Mosbacher Deidesheimer Herrgottsacker Riesling Spätlese Trocken, Pfalz, £16.99, Waitrose, a refreshing dry white with intense stonefruit concentration and a bone mineral element. Even the Mosel, where delicate sweet rieslings hold sway, is getting in on the dry act. The 2008 Sybille Kuntz Estate, £14.05, The Sampler (thesampler.co.uk), displays an attractively floral and lime citrus aroma with an intense, zesty fresh lemon and lime fruitiness finishing bone dry with a mineral twist. More is yet to come.

Something For The Weekend

Something For the Weekend 21 January 2012

Couch Potato

2010 Les Nivières, Saumur, Loire, France

Vivid and refreshingly herbal, this is a typical cabernet franc whose savoury blackcurrant fruit juiciness is attractively rounded out by a light touch of oak. A thoroughly drinkable young Loire Valley red. £5.99, reduced from £7.99, Waitrose.

Home Diner

2010 Tabalí Reserva Especial Chardonnay, Limarí Valley

Cool climate, northern coastal Chilean chardonnay with ripe peachy fruit quality and a pineappley edge to a dry finish bringing zesty freshness. Imagine white Burgundian only in slightly more opulent vein. £12.49, buy 2 = £9.99, Majestic.

Splash Out

2007 Clairault Estate Cabernet Sauvignon, Western Australia
A complex, aromatic Bordeaux-style, blending cedary oak and a concentrated cassis-like fruit richness with an ultra-supple silkiness of texture, spice-tinged flavours and the delicately minty elements that go with the Margaret River territory. £24.00, Marks & Spencer.

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