Ask Rover's Wine Manager
- You recommended a wonderful Riesling for our first-course last week. We didn’t know that Riesling could be so dry and fresh. Isn’t Riesling usually a sweet wine?
The wonderful thing about Riesling is that it can cover the whole range of sweetness levels. It is one of the most versatile grape-varietals and can range from intensely dry to sweet and honey-like in flavor. In a very broad generalization, French Riesling tend to be dry and fuller in body, whereas German Rieslings offer a lighter, very elegant style with varying levels of sweetness. Our great Northwest Rieslings follow the more Germanic approach to leaving a bit of residual sugar (that’s sugar that is left in the wine to sweeten the flavors) but have a fuller body closer to the French model. As always, ask for recommendation from your favorite wine store clerk or sommelier and mention which style (from dry to sweet) you prefer. They’ll be glad to find you the right bottle.
- How come a wine labeled Red Wine is sometimes more expensive than say, Cabernet Sauvignon or Merlot? Aren’t these wines usually of better quality?
Not necessarily. The high-quality red wines from Bordeaux, Napa or Walla Walla are usually blends of Cabernet, Merlot and a few other grapes. The idea behind blending grapes is that each varietal brings a special quality to the blend. The result is that the finished wine is normally better than any of its single components. The law in Washington State stipulates that if a wine label shows a single-varietal (such as Cabernet Sauvignon) the wine in the bottle must contain no less than 75% of the stated varietal. Red Wine labels are simply wines that contain less than 75% of any single grape-varietals.
Any Questions? Ask Rover's Wine Manager
Our wine manager will answer any of your questions about wine. Drop him an email at scot@rovers-seattle.com.
