Dry Riesling Unveiled – Rethinking a Misunderstood Grape

September 09, 2025
7 min read

Riesling has long carried a reputation for sweetness, but that is only part of the story. At its best, Riesling produces some of the most precise, mineral-driven, and age-worthy white wines in the world. For our first-ever Riesling tasting at Vinonueva, Dry Rieslings Unveiled, we set out to explore the side of this grape that often surprises wine lovers: wines that are structured, elegant, and profoundly expressive.

Riesling can be every bit as great as a Grand Cru from Burgundy or any other benchmark white wine in the world. We explored two producers from classic regions in Germany (Mosel and Pfalz) and one from Austria (Wachau)—a broad range that stretched from bottles made for everyday drinking to those equivalent to the Grand Crus of their regions. We tasted in order from the coolest to the warmest climates.

Part of Riesling's misunderstood image comes from confusion about sweetness. In wine terms, dry means there is little to no residual sugar after fermentation, producing crisp, mineral, and sometimes even austere wines. Off-dry sits in the middle ground, with just a touch of sweetness that often shows more as fruitiness than sugar—balanced by Riesling's naturally high acidity. Truly sweet Rieslings go further, made in late-harvest or dessert styles where the sugar is unmistakable. Our tasting focused entirely on dry Rieslings.

Many sommeliers will tell you Riesling is their favorite grape. It is considered one of the greatest varietals because of a unique quality often called translucency, an expression that few other varietals can match. Translucency describes how clearly a wine expresses its place of origin. A grape like Riesling changes dramatically with small shifts in soil or slope, almost like a clear window onto the vineyard. Plant Riesling in one spot, then just a few meters away, and the wine will already taste different. It is a grape that tells you precisely where it comes from.

Riesling in Germany

Riesling is a native grape from Germany. The Romans were the first to bring viticulture to the region, and by the Middle Ages, the church had become the largest vineyard owner. Monks tended the vines, made the wines, and, over time, came to recognize which sites produced greatness and which did not.

In Northern Europe, ripening has always been the key factor. A 'bad site' was one that could not gather enough warmth for grapes to ripen fully. Germany ranks among the world's coldest wine-growing countries in the world. Yet within that climate, the very best vineyards consistently allowed Riesling to reach full ripeness. Over centuries, the monks learned to distinguish these exceptional sites from the rest.

By the early 20th century, German Rieslings were at the top of the wine world. On wine lists in London, Paris, and across Europe, the finest single-vineyard Rieslings were priced higher than Burgundy or Bordeaux. But history intervened. After World War I, wines from Germany fell out of favor. The economy collapsed, demand disappeared, and the prestige Riesling had earned was lost. A generation later, World War II compounded the situation.

After World War II, German viticulture took a noteworthy turn. The laws in the 1970s streamlined thousands of single vineyard sites under broader names, making it harder to distinguish premium single vineyards. At the same time, export markets like the United States favored sweeter wine styles. By then, Riesling's image abroad had become widely associated with sweetness.

Yet the serious estates never stopped producing dry Rieslings. In Germany, virtually every important producer makes both dry and off-dry wines, not to chase trends but because Riesling allows them to. They will often explain: We are not trying to make sweet wine, we are trying to make fruity wine. Sweetness, after all, is subjective—what one person calls sweet, another might call barely off-dry. But Germany's most significant producers remain proudest of their dry Rieslings.

Germany - Mosel

One of the best-known German wine regions in the United States is the Mosel. It is very picturesque: quiet, with almost storybook landscapes of steep slopes cascading down to the river, dotted with villages and castles. The Mosel River is more than just scenery—it plays a crucial role in the vineyards. The best sites sit right along the riverbank, where sunlight reflects off the water to help ripen the grapes, and the river itself moderates temperatures so these slopes stay just a bit warmer than the hills farther away.

The soils here are famously slate-based: hard yet brittle, cracking easily. Riesling vines must dig incredibly deep to reach the water table fed by the river, and this struggle imparts a marked minerality to the wines. Minerality is, in fact, one of the defining traits of Mosel Riesling.

The Mosel is Germany's coldest Riesling region, and its wines often carry the lowest alcohol levels of any dry Rieslings, sometimes just above 11%. Since alcohol adds weight and volume, Mosel Rieslings feel exceptionally light, delicate, and precise.

Germany - Pfalz

From the Mosel we traveled south, to the Pfalz—a region that borders France, lying just beneath Alsace. The Vosges Mountains continue into Germany here, becoming the Haardt Mountains. Unlike the Mosel, with its dramatic slate slopes tumbling into the river, the Pfalz is gentler terrain: rolling hills and flatter plains at moderate altitudes.

What makes the Pfalz fascinating is its diversity of soils. Sandstone, volcanic deposits, loam, and even pockets of slate all coexist here. It is like a playground: one producer might make eight different dry Rieslings, each from a different soil type, and each with its own distinct expression.

The style reflects this setting. Pfalz Rieslings are broader, fuller, and often more aromatic than those from the Mosel. Where Mosel emphasizes delicacy and lightness, the Pfalz shows more power and fruit richness, while still retaining the freshness that defines Riesling. It's a region that demonstrates just how versatile the grape can be—shifting character entirely depending on its soil and exposure, yet consistently delivering clarity of place.

Tips for decoding the label for German Rieslings

German Rieslings can feel confusing to everyone except the Germans. To them, it's perfectly straightforward—they'll say everything you need to know is on the label. But when you pick up a bottle, even after translation, it can still read like a puzzle.

A quick tip: alcohol can hint at sweetness. German Rieslings in the 7–9.5% range usually keep some residual sugar, since not all the grape juice ferments into alcohol—so they'll taste sweeter. Wines at 11% or higher are most often dry, though there are exceptions, especially in the middle range.
Another key marker is the letters GG, short for Grosse Lage or Grosses Gewächs, which translates to 'great site' or 'great growth.' Think of it as the German equivalent of a Grand Cru in Burgundy—a signal that the wine comes from one of the country's top vineyards, made in a dry style.
And then there's the capsule detail: on certain bottles, you'll notice a small picture of an eagle clutching a cluster of grapes. This is the symbol of the VDP, Germany's prestigious growers' association. Membership is by invitation only, and today it includes around 200 of the country's very best producers. Seeing that logo is another assurance that you're holding something from the top tier of German winemaking.
You'll also often see the word Trocken on German bottles, which means 'dry.' It's the most straightforward cue on the label that you're drinking a dry Riesling.

Riesling in Austria

Although Austrian and German wines are often grouped together, they are in fact very different—culturally, historically, and stylistically. Austria lies further south, just above Italy, and for centuries, parts of northern Italy (like Alto Adige) were under Austrian control. Most of Austria's wine production is concentrated on the eastern side of Vienna, making it one of the few European capitals with vineyards right at its doorstep.

Viticulture in Austria dates back to Roman times, but it was the Cistercian monks who later developed and shaped it into a lasting tradition. The country's modern wine story took a dramatic turn after World War II. In the postwar years, wine was considered less a luxury and more a basic food source, a source of calories when meat and other staples were scarce. Mechanization arrived in the 1950s, and Austria leaned heavily into bulk production over quality. Then, in the 1980s, a scandal hit: some producers were caught using a chemical additive (diethylene glycol, known as antifreeze) to give wines more body. The news destroyed Austria's international reputation, and the market collapsed almost overnight.

Austria's answer to the 1980s scandal was nothing less than a complete reset. Producers embraced some of the world's strictest wine laws, put quality above quantity, and rebuilt their reputation from the ground up. Today, Austria is considered one of the most reliable sources of pristine, terroir-driven white wines. Even in packaging, they led innovation—pioneering the use of glass stoppers as a modern, flawless alternative to cork.

Austria - Wachau

The most prestigious Riesling region in Austria is the Wachau, along the Danube River. The Wachau has its own growers' association, independent from Austria's national body (the ÖTW), which only adds to the complexity for consumers. Instead of the German "GG" classification, the Wachau uses three traditional terms:

Steinfeder – the lightest style, named after a local grass that grows in the vineyards.
Federspiel – the middle tier, originally a falconry term.
Smaragd – the top tier, named after a green lizard that basks on the stone terraces.

These names may sound unusual, but they indicate weight and ripeness, much like the German system. Federspiel roughly corresponds to an everyday dry Riesling, while Smaragd is the equivalent of a Grand Cru. The Wachau's best producers—like Alzinger, which we tasted—deliver Rieslings of striking perfume, power, and finesse, proving how far Austria has come since its days of bulk wine.

What we learned

Tasting Riesling across the Mosel, Pfalz, and Wachau side by side revealed just how versatile—and profound—this grape can be. The Mosel showed delicacy, lightness, and minerality born from slate and cold slopes along the river. The Pfalz delivered broader textures and aromatic power, a showcase of how varied soils shape expression. And the Wachau reminded us of Austria's remarkable comeback, offering wines of richness and perfume that stand comfortably among the world's great whites.

What unites them all is Riesling's translucence: its uncanny ability to reflect its place of origin with precision. A few meters on a hillside or a shift in soil can change the character of the wine entirely. It is this sensitivity to terroir, combined with freshness, balance, and age-worthiness, that makes Riesling one of the truly noble grapes.

For many, the tasting was a rediscovery. Riesling is not only about sweetness—it is about clarity, site, and style. Riesling belongs in every serious collection and on every table.

Lineup of the tasting - Click wines to shop