A few days ago I cooked a few very spicy Sicilian chicken sausages that left me with a bit of uncomfortable heat in my mouth. Don’t get me wrong, they were absolutely delicious but I didn’t have anything to cut the heat at the time other than milk, which isn’t exactly appetizing with Italian fare. So this time around, I decided to grab a lightly sweet wine to cut that spice and perhaps elevate the whole dinner itself.

Enter this lovely German Riesling. Produced by Weingut Anselmann, this is 100% Riesling from an estate vineyard. I purchased it from Total Wine in Temecula for about $14. Because it’s labelled Kabinett, we are guaranteed under German Law a certain level of ripeness depending on the region as well as the satisfaction that there was no adulteration in the form of chaptalization.

Now about that vineyard… The vineyard itself is in the 1300 year old winegrowing village of Edesheim in the German wine region of Pfalz. For all intents and purposes, this region is basically an extension of the French wine region of Alsace bordered to the south. The region sits east of a northern extension of the Vosges Mountains called Pfälzerwald. To the west of the region is the Rhine River. As such, this vineyard will have received many sunny days due to the rain shadow of the mountains, while also having cooler daytime temperatures due to its northerly latitude. Even so, this is one of the warmest wine-growing if not agricultural regions in Germany with some areas having near Mediterranean-like micro-climates that even allow citrus fruit to grow. As a result, this vineyard will have had no problem attaining the ripeness needed for this wine meet the qualifications of a Kabinett.

Tasting Notes

Appearance:

Clear pale lemon.

Nose:

Medium (+) nose with aromas of peach, lemon, green apple, blossom, and petrol. The wine is developing.

Palate:

This is an off-dry wine with high acid, low alcohol, and medium body. Pronounced flavors of dried apple, peach, lemon, lime, and wet stone.

Finish:

Medium length finish.

Conclusion

Overall this is a good wine that can be drunk now but has the potential for aging. In the case of my dinner of spicy sausage, the wine definitely has enough acid to cut through the fat of the sausage I made. It also has enough sweetness to tone down the spice without being overly sweet. That being said it is also highly enjoyable on its own as well.

This Riesling definitely over-delivered for the price. As such I would highly recommend you pick up a bottle or two for that night you need something to cut your spicy dinner with.