Riesling (Alsace, France) 2004 - Josmeyer "Le Dragon"

I really didn't want to start my first post with a white wine. So many people tend to look down upon, or pass over, whites when making their selections in a restaurant or in the store. Or they just order a white by the glass when eating fish. Nevertheless, my friend Bill has introduced me to some white wines that (to me) completely stand up to reds in their complexity and body. I now look for a certain few white varietals that I really enjoy drinking on their own. So I take back my opening statement and I am happy to start off with a varietal that I really used to hate.

You don't find many rieslings on wine lists that aren't typically sweet and almost "syrupy" tasting. I have been avoiding rieslings precisely because of that reason. But, recently I sampled a bottle of Austrian riesling that was not even in the same ballpark as what you would normally associate with the varietal. It was the dry, gritty, petrol taste of this particular riesling that renewed my interest. I don't remember the name or year, but it was damn good. Since then I have set out to find a similar tasting reislings, and discovered the Josmeyer.

The Josmeyer "Le Dragon" really had that same gritty petrol taste that I love, not to the same extent as the Austrian that I first tried, but a near approximation. The aroma of this Alsacian riesling was slightly orange-citrus, with a base note of oily petrol. The taste was again, gritty and dry with strong petrol flavors and a little apple.

Thus, I now know that both Austria and France (Alsace) produce some great dry rieslings in the style that I prefer. Will keep looking for others. And will definitely keep my other posts shorter.