Day 343 Drink: Trullo 2008 Riesling Qualitatswein

German wine labels can be a challenge, but if you know what you are looking for they can help make your selection a little easier.

If you are in Germany, you may encounter Deutscher Tafelwein (German Table Wine) or Deutscher Landwein (German Country Wine), but in the U.S. most of your choices will be either Qualitatswein bestimmter Anbaugebiete (QbA) (quality wine from a specific region) or Pradikatswein, which traditionally had been called Qualitätswein mit Prädikat (QmP), the highest ranking among German wines..

Trullo 2008 Riesling Qualitatswein is from the Rheinhessen region, which is south of the Rhein between Bingen and Worms. Wineries in the region make Silvaner, Muller-Thurgua and Riesling. If you have ever had a Liebfraumilch, it was likely made in this region and must contain a blend of at least 70 percent of the Silvaner, Muller-Thurgua and Riesling grapes. If you turn your nose up at Liebfraumilch, keep in mind if you enjoy Spätlese or Auslese you are basically drinking a blend of the same grapes.

Trullo 2008 Riesling Qualitatswein is a light golden color with a sweet floral nose. The fruit is forward in this wine and it would make a nice cocktail wine. There are bits of peach and honeysuckle in the flavor profile.

Day 139 Drink: Sun Garden 2007 Riesling

Sun Garden Riesling comes from Bernkastel-Kues, Germany, in the Mosel region. The winery focuses on Riesling and Pinot Noir. Sun Garden buys grapes from a local cooperative, whose members operate vineyards on slopes overlooking the river valley. The slate in the soil gives local wines a touch of minerality.

Sun Garden 2007 Riesling pours a light straw color and has a inviting floral aroma. The overall flavor is semi-dry with hints of pear and melon. Not overly complex, but a good summer cocktail hour wine.

Day 80 Drink: Hermann J. Wiemer 2008 Semi-Dry Riesling

Hermman J. Wiemer Vineyard is located on the west side of Seneca Lake in New York's Finger Lakes region. Wiemer was born in Germany where his family had a 300-year tradition of wine making. His father played a key role in restoring vineyards along the Mosel after World War II.

Wiemer came to the U.S. and his first vintage in 1979 won awards. He was recognized as a pioneer among east coast vintners and helped spread the use of vinifera grapes. Wiemer is still involved with the operations of the winery, but wine maker Fred Merwath has taken over the wine making process.

Hermann J. Wiemer 2008 Semi-Dry Riesling is a lively wine with plenty of floral aroma notes and hints of citrus. The wine shows just subtle hints of minerality with opening citrus flavor notes. There is 2.4 percent residual sugar present that shows itself in a fruity finish.

Tasting Wine in the Prince Bishop's Cellar

After touring the massive Residenz complex In Wurzburg, we had worked up a sufficient thirst to join a group headed for a short wine tasting in the basement wine cellar.

Staatlicher Hofkeller Wurzburg is the second largest winery in Germany. The fact that this once served as the Prince Bishop’s Court Cellar gives you an idea of the kind of entertaining that took place upstairs. The fact is that income from wine production helped build Wurzburg and created wealth in the area. The Sun Catcher Ridge that you can see from the rail station is renowned for the quality of its grapes. The massive underground cellar is the kind of place that could inspire a Hollywood epic about knights and princesses. While it is a dark and somewhat foreboding place, happily the cellar has been used for centuries to make wine and not as a dungeon.

We walked down a huge stone staircase, into the underground chamber lighted by hundreds of candles. We passed huge casks, including at least one dating back to the 1500s, to a series of long tables where we sat among a group of mostly retired cruise passengers from the U.S., Canada, Australia, New Zealand and Great Britain.

We were able to try three moderately priced wines. If it felt a little like home it was because root stock from the Finger Lakes in New York was used to rebuild the vineyards after they were destroyed by philoxeria.

Randersackerer Marsberg 2007 Silvaner Kabinett: This dry white has a nice fruit aroma and an extremely crisp taste. This would be the perfect aperitif before a holiday meal.

Hofkeller 2007 Riesling Kabinett: This was a medium dry wine that is fruit forward and lively. The grape offers a nice balance between the sugar and acid content.

Abtswinder Altenberg 2007 Scheurebe Spatlese: This is a sweet and flowery wine. Climate changes mean that local wineries no longer can produce ice wine on a regular basis, but this apple and banana filled wine is clearly designed for the end of the evening.

New York Brewery Teams With Winery to Launch Riesling Ale

Just when you think you may have tried every beer style comes word that a Finger Lakes brewery and winery are getting together to make a brew using riesling grapes.

Three Brothers Winery, located just south of Geneva, N.Y., has contracted with Custom BrewCrafters in Honeoye Falls to make five beers under the Barley Yards Brewing label. Contract brewing is not unique and at least one Finger Lakes winery, Wagner Vineyards, brews its own beer. What is unique about this venture is that one of the beers will combine elements of beer and wine.

Barley Yards Riesling Ale will include grapes grown in the Finger Lakes, recognized as one of the top riesling producing areas in the U.S. Custom BrewCrafters makes contract beer for about 50 accounts around western and northern New York.

The Riesling Ale will be served when Barley Yards opens on May 24, along with Barley Yards East Coast Amber, American Black Lager, India Pale Ale and Raspberry Wheat Ale.

Tuesday Tasting: More Finger Lakes Rieslings

Tuesday Tasting is a regular feature of Lyke2Drink that explores some of the best beers, wines and spirits on the market. This week we sample six more rieslings from the Finger Lakes region of Upstate New York.

Those of you who know me or who are regular readers of Lyke2Drink know that I work for Eric Mower and Associates, a marketing communications agency (www.mower.com). You may also recall that we have done some work with the Finger Lakes Wine Alliance, a voluntary association made up of about 100 wineries in the region and grape growers. I play host for the FLWA Vintners' Roundtable, a virtual tasting conducted via conference call that links winemakers and food and beverage journalists. A recent session that included writers from Gourmet and Restaurant Business focused on Finger Lakes Rieslings. My notes for this Tuesday tasting come from that session.

Ravines 2006 Dry Riesling ($17): Anyone who says that Finger Lakes rieslings are all sweet has never tried this creation by winemaker Morten Hallgran. At just 0.3 percent residual sugar this wine has a nice floral nose and a lime and mineral flavor bed.

Prejean 2006 Dry Riesling ($12): Floral nose, honeysuckle with melon flavor notes. Jim Zimar has built a well balanced wine with 0.9 percent residual sugar.

Swedish Hill 2006 Dry Riesling ($15): After 20 years of growing grapes for others, the Peterson family launched Swedish Hill and had its first crush in 1985. This wine has firm citrus and pear notes with a pleasant floral nose. This dry riesling has 0.5 percent residual sugar.

Heron Hill 2005 Ingle Vineyard Riesling ($25): Winemaker Thomas Laszlo has created a nice balanced riesling with a slate mineral nose, and pear and citrus flavor profile.

Hazlitt 1852 Vineyards 2006 Homestead Reserve Riesling ($18): This wine has 1.1 percent residual sugar. Six generations of the Hazlitt family have been growing grapes on the eastern shore of Seneca Lake. This riesling has pineapple and tropical notes in a semi-dry format.

Wagner 2006 Semi Dry Riesling ($13): This wine is fermented in stainless steel tanks and has 2 percent residual sugar. It has a crisp peach and apricot aroma, with plenty of citrus and dried apricots in a long flavor profile.

Tuesday Tasting: Finger Lakes Riesling

Tuesday Tasting is a regular feature of Lyke2Drink that explores some of the best beers, wines and spirits on the market. This week we travel to the Finger Lakes region of Upstate New York for some riesling.

Those of you who know me or who are regular readers of Lyke2Drink know that I work for Eric Mower and Associates, a marketing communications agency (www.mower.com). A client we are doing some projects for at the moment is the Finger Lakes Wine Alliance, a voluntary association made up of the more than 90 wineries in the region and grape growers. I work on the business and play host for the FLWA Vintners' Roundtable. This program is a virtual tasting conducted via conference call that links winemakers and food and beverage journalists. I offer this disclaimer because we had one in the series of tastings last week that focused on Finger Lakes Riesling. My notes for this Tuesday tasting come from that session.

Several journalists were on the call including Ronn Wiegand of Restaurant Wine, Sandra Silfven of the Detroit News and Rob Lane of the Finger Lakes Weekend Wino blog. You can check out their reports as they appear to measure the objectivity of my tasting notes.

I spent a good chunk of my life living near the edge of the Finger Lakes so my first experiences touring vineyards was in this region.The region is known as a tough place to grow grapes. However, through the leadership of some early stubborn winemakers and research that takes place at Cornell University, Finger Lakes vineyards have grown in stature. The area is rightfully recognized as one of the best places on the globe to make riesling. For the FLWA tasting we gathered a wine from each of six vineyards that were spread around the region. Interestingly, we had a vineyard founded in the 1960s, one from the 1970s, another from the 1980s, one from the 1990s and two that were founded during this decade.

If you want to know what the "Finger Lakes Riesling Style" is all about, this tasting explained it: it is all about diversity. We had dry to sweet rieslings in the tasting, reflecting the various winemaking styles and conditions. One thing about the wines from the region is that while they can have some high residual sugar totals, they also boast solid acidity totals that tend to balance things out. You get plenty of fruit and soil characteristics with each wine.

Here are the six wines we tasted:

Dr. Konstantin Frank 2006 Dry Riesling: -- ($17.99) This Keuka Lake vineyard was founded in 1962 by a founding father of vinifera wine in the region. It is one of the most decorated vineyards in the east and this riesling already has a trophy case full of gold medals. The wine has 0.7 percent residual sugar and .72 grams of acidity. The nose has inviting fruit aromas. You get a nice mixture of apple and pear flavor notes with a good slate mineral base to the wine. Fred Frank presented this wine and made the point that after harsh winters limited crops in 2004 and 2005, the 2006 harvest was solid and 2007 is looking like another good year. The winery plan to plant more riesling vineyards around the region to keep up with demand.

Hunt Country 2006 Semi-Dry Riesling: ($13.99) Another Keuka Lake winery makes this riesling, whixh has 1.5 percent residual sugar and a .73 acidity level. Winemaker Chris Wirth presented this wine, which is made using 3 yeast strains giving it a round and vibrant taste. There is apricot and a nudge of tropical fruit to this wine that leans towards the dry of the semi-dry chart. Wirth came to New York from California and says winemakers in the region are much more willing to share ideas in the Finger Lakes. "It used to be that way in California 25 years ago," he says.

Rooster Hill Estate 2006 Semi-Dry Riesling: ($15.99) Another Keuka Lake vineyard and a wine that surprised me in the tasting. Owner Amy Hoffman and winemaker Barry Tortolon presented this wine which has 1.6% residual sugar and a .88 acidity. This vineyard was planted in 2002 on an abandoned 35 acre site that was once a vineyard. Rooster Hill spent significantly to improve drainage in the vineyard. The wine is a rich semi-dry style riesling with plenty of fruit and a slight acidic edge that balances each sip. I found a touch of honey and peach in the wine.

Standing Stone 2006 Riesling: ($13.99) From the east side of Seneca Lake, this winery was formed in 1991 on the site of historic vineyards that supplied Gold Seal Vineyards with grapes. Owner Marti Macinski said they have learned that grapes on the land lend themselves to a variety of riesling styles depending on the conditions so the winemakers work to "get out of the way" of the grapes and let them do what they want to do. The 2006 wine has 2.0 percent residual sugar and a .844 acidity level. This wine drinks much more dry than the sugar level would suggest. You get clear tropical notes and a hint of fresh orange in the base.

White Springs Farm 2006 Red Label Riesling: ($12.99) This Seneca Lake winery is not far from Geneva. Derek Wilbur presented this wine, which has a 4.5 percent residual sugar and .89 grams of acidity. Wilbur has been making wine in the region for 25 years and says the 2006 vintage is proof that Finger Lakes vintners have come of age. "We've produced some stunning wines where 20 years ago we would have thrown up our arms," he says. Wilbur says that one year Finger Lakes winemakers making wines like California vineyards and the next they have to act like European wineries, reacting to what the climate serves up. This wine has plenty of honey, peach and apricot notes. While this wine is on the sweet end of the non-dessert wine scale, it could match well with a summer salad or even some pork dishes.

Wagner 2006 Riesling Ice Wine: ($22.99/375 ml) A Seneca Lake winery founded in 1979 it is also the home for a pretty decent microbrewery. Laura Wagner presented this wine which has 11.8 percent residual sugar. The grapes pressed to make this wine are picked and frozen post harvest, which allows the winemaker to control quality, quantity and pricing. The wine has lush pineapple and apricot flavor notes that are perfect for the end of a meal.

Wiemer Sells Finger Lakes Vineyard to Winemaker Merwarth

One of the icons of the Finger Lakes wine scene, Hermann J. Wiemer, has sold his winery to his winemaker, Frederick Merwath.

Wiemer Riesling is recognized among the best in North America and the 65-year-old German-born vintner is credited with playing a major part in building the worldwide reputation of Finger Lakes wine. Merwarth, 29, takes over the 15,000-case winery that was started in 1979 at a time when most wines in the region were made from Niagara, Cayuga and other non-vinifera grapes. He has worked with Wiemer for the last six years.

My wife, Sandy, and I were lucky enough to meet Hermann Wiemer during one of our first visits to the Finger Lakes in the 1980s. We were impressed by the quality of his wines, along with his commitment to building a presence for Finger Lakes wines on a world level. His winery is still the most orderly and clean winery, distillery or brewery that I have ever toured.

Besides riesling, Wiemer makes some pretty solid gewurztraminer, pinot noir and sparkling wines. Wiemer Dry Riesling has won the Governor's Cup twice as the state's top wine.