Series No 2 - Discover Germany

German Riesling covers the full spectrum of white wine styles – from bone-dry to lusciously sweet and everything in between. Selecting an example from a restaurant wine list and matching it to your chosen dish offers both opportunity and pitfalls in equal measure. So a quick primer first. There are three schools of thought when it comes to pairing wine with food.The first is that you should drink the wine you enjoy and eat the food you enjoy and the two will somehow get along. This is the lived truth of most epicures and obviously has clear exceptions: even claret lovers do not tend to drink red Bordeaux with prawns, for instance.The second is the universally accepted axiom that "what grows together, goes together". This finds its truth in freshly caught seafood and any number of coastal white wines like Muscadet, Greek Assyrtiko or Rias Baixas Albariño. Or white truffles and Barolo, for that matter. The third is that certain fine-tuned pairings enhance the enjoyment of both food and wine, so they become far more than the sum of their parts – either through contrast like Port and Stilton, or harmony like Chablis and oysters. What follows applies to this third approach, and food-pairing with Riesling.

When pairing Riesling with food, there are two key considerations before any further fine-tuning. The first is how dry or sweet the wine is and its body and weight.

Since Riesling comes with infinite nuance of sweetness and acidity levels, it offers unparalleled matching potentials. Bone dry Rieslings have very similar pairings to other bone-dry white wines and here the elements of acidity, body and maturity come into play. Young Rieslings have vivid flavours and much energy, and are thus perfect for contemporary, light cuisines that make much of their own freshness and transparency. Mature, bone-dry Rieslings, with their mellowed brightness, textural smoothness and moderate alcohol, offer an ideal backdrop for sublime, unadulterated yet delicate flavours – like turbot, for instance.

It is in the endless spectrum of off-dry and medium-sweet wines where Riesling can accomplish matches that other wines simply cannot. Riesling plays a game of infinite subtlety that can enhance dishes that are otherwise difficult to pair for a variety of reasons:because they have elements of sweetness; the presence of chili or pepper heat; or a backbone of sharp citrus or sweet spice. Here, the fine-tuning offers sensational matches. Consider Hawaiian pineapple relish. A nuanced choice, maybe, but while any other wine would struggle here, a sweet Kabinett takes this in its stride (more suggestions follow, for non-pineapple lovers).

With sweet Rieslings, whether just sweet or downright luscious and viscous, the same considerations apply as for other sweet wines. With desserts, the wine must be sweeter than the dessert, otherwise it will come across as tart and lacking. Off-dry, medium sweet and sweet Rieslings are also great partners for cheese – just remember, the saltier the cheese,the sweeter the wine.

Since the world offers a wealth of dry white wines of high quality, dry Riesling’s ability to pair with food is often overlooked. Its two chief attractions are translucency and precision,provided by acidity and a relatively light body that will not overwhelm. A youthful, bone-dry Riesling of estate-wine quality with a light body and moderate alcohol is the go-to wine for contemporary, light cuisine, especially vegetable-driven dishes, where its translucency and fine acidity will never dominate even subtle, plant-based dishes. By the same token, such a dry, simple, slender Riesling will be great with a light, lemon-dressed salad. Dönnhoff’s dry estate Riesling is a perfect example of such an all-rounder.

A more serious but still youthful, bone-dry single-site Riesling will be perfect with grilled fish simply seasoned with salt and lemon. The same wine with, say, 10-15 years of bottle age, of light body and moderate alcohol and the fluid texture of maturity, will be a dream with a more buttery version of that same fish, freshwater and sea fish alike. The fact that Riesling has so much flavour despite relative lightness is a boon when it comes to pairing with subtle, spare,minimalist dishes. Emrich Schönleber’s Riesling Halenberg Grosses Gewächs provides much stature and depth here.

More robust Rieslings, from warmer regions, warmer vintages and with more alcohol can match progressively weightier dishes. While fish and white meats are natural choices,sauces and flavourings like herbs and citrus are also key considerations. Pork, either fresh or cured, is a traditional match for dry Riesling. Some traditional dishes, like the Alsatian coq au Riesling in a creamy mushroom sauce, are ideal for mature, dry Rieslings not just from Alsace, but from Pfalz, Rheinhessen and Rheingau. Try a mature Battenfeld-Spanier’s Kirchenstück Grosses Gewächs and you will not be disappointed.

A more rustic but nonetheless delicious Riesling pairing is cold cured pork or German pork charcuterie. Pfalz Leberwurst on rye bread with a glass of dry, young robust Riesling is one of life’s simple pleasures. Or a pork pie will do very nicely – Ökonomierat Rebholz’s vom Rotliegenden Riesling Trocken fits this bill perfectly.

Kabinett and Spätlese can be dry, off-dry, medium sweet or sweet – it is important to determine the sweetness level at the outset – but it is here that Riesling shows its true mettle. Off-dry and medium sweet Rieslings conquer where other wines falter. Just pick any dish with a notably sweet element and Riesling becomes a winner when matched to the intensity of sweetness in the food.

This can be as subtle as the slight sweetness of prawns and lobster, where a little goes along way – consider that most brut Champagnes also have around 5-/-8 g/L of sweetness and the idea begins making sense – then add either Marie Rose sauce with its slight sweetness or the richness of melted butter and you have a match. The subtle sweetness of mussels in a creamy sauce spiked with citrus – and enhanced with a dash of medium-sweet Riesling – lends a fresh spin to this humble dish.

But the key thought here is about sweet elements in otherwise savoury dishes, like Thai cuisine that traditionally balances heat and sourness with palm sugar. Or think of fruit: apple,citrus segments, dried berries or even candied nuts in a salad; or pork with fruit, be it applesauce with pork roast, prunes with braised pork, cherry- or marmalade-glazed ham, or fruit chutneys with cold ham. Then there is dried fruit in a tagine or pastilla, mango in a coconut-based curry, plum highlights in salty-smoky Japanese dishes. And wherever a chef has overdone the sweet chili sauce, a Riesling such as Forstmeister Geltz Zilliken’s Saarburger Rausch Kabinett will come to the rescue.

Salted, cured and smoked pork is also enhanced by off-dry Riesling, as is subtle heat and spice or sharp citrus. With its lemon-and-lime kick and lively fruit, tropical fruit ceviche is a prime candidate for a sweetish Riesling pairing. Where lime, chili, citrus and herb meet – as in Mexican and Peruvian cooking, or Asian combinations and fusions of these – off-dry Riesling takes the edge off the chili heat while standing up to the lime. J.J. Prüm’s Wehlener Sonnenuhr Spätlese is a winner here.

More traditionally, mature, just off-dry Spätlesen are well-matched with well-hung game or venison, as the subtle sweetness of the wine matches the subtle gaminess of the meat. In Germany, roast saddle of venison is often served with braised, sweet pear and cranberry sauce, again mirroring the sweeter richness of the meat. Some German winemakers even maintain that they have rare steak with mature Spätlese, though that is a more acquired taste.

Rich and fine meat patés with duck liver can be a perfect canape with a fine-boned, mature off-dry Kabinett or Spätlese. The same is true for appetizers that combine fresh fig with smoked ham or blue cheese. Milder soft cheeses and mature washed rind cheese,meanwhile, are a total pleasure with mature off-dry and medium-sweet Kabinett and Spätlese.

Sweet Spätlesen and Auslesen call either for sweetness in food or for saltiness in cheese.

Pure, sweet Spätlesen shine when paired with fruit that mirrors their own nature: stone fruit is a dream here: think of Mirabelle or Reine Claude plums baked as an open tart or with frangipani filling; think apricot crumbles; think peach compotes. Peach ice cream can be a sublime match with sweet Spätlese or Auslese when the sweetness level of both is well calibrated. Desserts that feature candied citrus peel can be memorable – a traditional Sicilian cassata, for instance, or cassata ice cream. Honey-flavoured desserts like semifreddo will also slot into place. A whole raft of citrus-infused desserts can be divine occasions for sweet Rieslings – but again, calibration is the word for a sharp-sweet lemon tart or any number of St Clement Cake recipes with creamy layers or drizzle glaze. Other tart and tropical fruits also respond well – like a creamy passion fruit fool. Fresh fruit like pineapple and mango, fruit salads or compotes can also be matched, or even dressed with the wine. A Mosel Auslese such as Fritz Haag’s Juffer Sonnenuhr should do the trick here,Such pairings, however, require experimentation and experience – but the trial runs can be immense fun when approached with an open mind and hedonistic spirit.

On the cheese board, really salty cheeses respond best and this usually calls for strongblues like sharp Roquefort and Stilton or well-aged, salty, hard cheeses like Parmesan.

Chocolate matches – unless it is white chocolate with a fruit element – should generally be avoided as the acidity of Riesling will jar with the mildness of the chocolate.

Beerenauslesen, Trockenbeerenauslesen and Eiswein are so concentrated and so complex,they really are a dessert in themselves. When they are decades old, they become vini da meditazione, or mediation wines, as the Italians suggest, wines that makes us think and feel long after the last course has been cleared away. If you are keen to pair them, this is best done with exquisite and equally rich sweet meats. Citrus-focused ice wines can be accompanied by single candied citrus fruits, like clementines or kumquats, for an intense experience. BA and TBA can be paired with Tuscan panforte, marrons glacés, or intense little combinations of dried dates stuffed with marzipan and nuts, Spanish turrón and Italian torrone. Pecan pie and treacle tart are also sweet enough to become a match.

Some people still stick to a very classic pairing of BA and TBA with foie gras, in place of Sauternes, but this is a very rich combination indeed and will depend on how sweet your tooth really is. Those with a very sweet tooth will also enjoy BAs and TBAs with salty blue-veined cheeses.