Alice King's wine course
Part 2: white wines

Riesling
One of Germany’s top grape varieties, this is often undervalued as people don’t really understand it. It should be pronounced ‘Reece-ling’ rather than ‘Rice-ling’.

Flavour. This can produce both dry and sweet wines. The wines are quite viscous or oily and have a slightly musky or almost petrolly aroma with a citrus tang of acidity on the palate. As the grape is quite an oily one, Riesling wines pair with oily food: goose, duck, pheasant, mackerel, sardines and red mullet.

Where in the world? Originally Germany. Increasingly being planted in California, Italy, New Zealand, Australia, South Africa, Chile and Argentina.

Gewurztraminer This is a grape people either love or hate. It’s mostly known for the wines produced in the Alsace region of Northern France.

Flavour. This grape variety always reminds me of Turkish Delight. It has an enticing aroma and flavour reminiscent of rose petals and exotic tropical fruit salad. The wines, whilst immediately fruity, can vary from off dry through to quite sweet. The sweetest of them all will have words like ‘late harvest’, or ‘vendange tardive’ on the label. These taste great with fruity puddings and oriental food, particularly Chinese or Thai.

Where in the world? Predominantly Alsace and Germany, though other countries are now beginning to plant Gewurztraminer. These include New Zealand, California, South Africa and Chile.

Part 1: getting started
Part 3: red wines
Part 4: champagne and sparkling wine