Gil Kulers’ Wine Pick

Lots of floral and citrus aromas with a subtle petrol note. It has bursting flavors of lime, lemon, pineapple and mineral qualities. It also has a fun, lightly spicy white pepper note.

The most obvious reason I have for recommending Australian rieslings is they are generally delicious. They have a refreshing, scintillating acidity that reminds me of tart citrus fruit. In fact, if you look up “zesty” in the dictionary, you’ll see a picture of a lime sitting on the beach holding up a bottle of Australian riesling.

If that’s not a good enough reason to pick up a bottle of Aussie riesling, especially as temperatures start creeping into the 80s, then you probably prefer hot coffee and wear corduroys when you go to the pool.

The more underlying, sinister reason I have for recommending Australian rieslings is that perhaps trying a riesling you’ll love will open the door that has longed been barred by many seemingly reasonable wine drinkers. When I ask what is the first word you think of to describe riesling, most people say “Sweet!” and make that “bleh” face.

First, many rieslings, like those from Australia, do not have any glucose or fructose leftover from fermentation. They are what is known as “dry” and are utterly unsweet.

Second, there’s a big difference between wine with subtle, seductive and sophisticated sweetness and insipidly sweet wine.

When you get over your irrational fear that all rieslings are sweet by trying a dry Australian riesling, then you might try an Alsatian or Washington state riesling. Some, not all, of these reislings have a kiss of purposeful sweetness to them. The leftover sugars remain in the wine to offset the naturally high acidity of riesling. This makes for a balanced, more elegant expression of the riesling grape.

Yes, there are rieslings that are sweet -- and not much more than that. Your wine shop guy or gal can help you navigate away from these bottles. But I’m not suggesting you go to Germany first ... or ever for that matter. Just pick up an Australian riesling and follow your palate wherever it may take you.

Gil Kulers is a certified wine educator with the Society of Wine Educators. You can reach him at gil.kulers@winekulers.com.

Note: Wines are rated on a rising scale of thumbs down, one thumb mostly up, one thumb up, two thumbs up, two thumbs way up and Golden Thumb Award. Prices are suggested retail prices as provided by the winery, one of its agents, a local distributor or retailer.