Wine

German Riesling with Roasted Pork

by:
April  1, 2010

This week, Sasha makes a case for German Rieslings -- so long as they have the acidity to back up their characteristic sweetness. She recommends a nuanced J.J. Prüm Riesling "Graacher Himmelreich" Auslese (hey Germanophiles -- we'd love a pronunciation lesson here) that has all the merits of a perfectly balanced Riesling, and will pair especially well with a richly marbled Roasted Pork Shoulder

For a 10% online discount on this and other still wines at Bottlerocketwine.com, enter this promotional code at checkout through the end of April: 52APR10.

Don't forget to check out Sasha's website, Spin The Bottle, for more great tips on wine.

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Sasha Smith writes about wine and food on her website, spinthebottleny. In her spare time, she is the Executive Director of a New York based media company.

 

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5 Comments

icebucketselections April 3, 2010
Agree with all of this. I'd toss in Vouvray as well. Particularly the "new" style they call "tendre," which is essentially another way of saying off-dry or a bit less sweet than off-dry. And I recently tried a full-blown sweet Vouvray (more than 70 grams/L of residual sugar) made by the producer I import with a pork tenderloin and it was superb. You could probably make the case that just about any off-dry white would work as well. It's good news for the category because it regularly gets slammed by "experts."
 
spinthebottleny April 4, 2010
Agree -- Vouvray would be lovely too!
 
mt97 April 2, 2010
Nice tip on the sulphur smell. I think I have come across this on occasion and considered the bottle corked; now I know better and like they say - knowing is half the battle (or is that half the bottle?)...
 
spinthebottleny April 2, 2010
Thanks! I love Austrian Rieslings as well, and FX Pichler is one of my favorites.
One very important thing to keep in mind with German Rieslings, especially when they're young: to keep these wines stable, producers add sulphur to them. The sugar in these sweet wines can referment in the bottle, which is not a good thing. Adding sulphur is safe and standard practice, but you may catch a bit of that sulphur smell when you open a bottle, but it will usually blow off after a few minutes.
 
mt97 April 2, 2010
Great choice with the German Riesling! And what a good idea to pair it with pork. Too often the best "sweet" Rieslings are relegated to Thai Food or spicy Chinese food. While there is nothing wrong with such pairings, people definitely miss out on the palette balance that can be achieved with sweet and savory working with each other. Love the recommendation! Austria has got some great Rieslings as well. I'm particularly fond of the Rieslings from the Wachau region by producers like FX Pichler - they're zingy with just a hint of honey.