Rieslings tend to be thought of as sweet wines, but that reputation is
a bit overblown. Many fall more on the dry side of the palate, and it's
really mostly the late-harvest ones (used as dessert wines) that fit
the sweet category. Both are tasty. However, the sweetness myth means
Rieslings are sometimes not taken seriously as wines to enjoy with
food. We find this unfortunate.
Just to confuse matters, we're going to tell you about a 2007 Selbach-Oster Zeltinger Sonnenuhr Riesling Kabinett (10 points for memorizing that) from Germany that isn't officially a dessert wine, but that actually is pretty sweet. The richness of this one is definitely not for everyone. It's got strong notes of pear and honey and a lemony finish. But the sugar flavors don't overwhelm the wine, because they stop before your sip is over and leave you with that nice, tart end. The Selbach-Oster (like other, typically drier Rieslings) would be especially good paired with barbecue or Asian food. While we usually believe it's hard to excel at two different things (see Michael Jordan's baseball career) this $23.99 wine is an exception: It could work equally well with dessert. We rate it a 7.0 out of 10.
