If ever there were a viticultural equivalent of a caterpillar turning into a butterfly, it must be Welschriesling. This white variety, widely grown throughout the many countries of its regional domain, Central and Eastern Europe – and now even in volume in China – was for decades billed generally as a grape that made neutral, easy-drinking wine; rather simple and sour, even outright plonky; so much so that it was frequently spritzed with soda water for hot summer day gulping.
Scroll down to see Darrel Joseph’s selection of Welschriesling wines to try
At best, it was vinified mainly as a sparkling wine – or a component of; otherwise as a dry, still wine for immediate consumption, rarely lasting more than a year in bottle.
Now, though, Welschriesling is rapidly becoming a wine producer’s darling.
