DRY (riesling) JANUARY đŸŒ©ïž

by Megan Jones

What’s up winos,

An email from me on a Friday? I know, right, but I can’t be the only one who has totally lost track of what day it is. Or what year it is. The month, however, is abundantly clear. Tis the season to pretend you’re going to stop drinking for four weeks. Look, if you really are doing that, more power 2 u and I’ll see you in Feb. If you’re not, read on for my version of dry Jan.

Twas a rude awakening back to work after a (mostly) pleasant few days off (mostly coz for the first half of it I had food poisoning, lol. I had a mashed avocado for Christmas dinner. Have you ever heard of anything sadder?). I was greeted by a wobbling tower of new Riesling arrivals, hot off the truck and straight onto the shelves. Way to start the year off right.

Sitting firmly in the ‘bargain’ territory is Weingut Peter Lauer, bringing us a supremely thirst-quenching (and supremely cheap) bone dry Rizza, basically the most refreshing thing you can drink that isn’t a bottle of water (and much less boring). For those with a little sweet tooth, have a look at his Kabinett, herbal and rich fruited. Life affirming drinking.

Over in the Rheinhessen, aka the best place to look for primo Riesling if you don’t want to remortgage your house, Fritz Haag is coming up trumps (trumpS, not the other one, we don’t talk about him) with a subtly off-dry bottling that’s all about balance and integration. A great intro to the Kabinett style if you still think sweet Riesling is for grandmas.

Wittmann’s also back with his tippity top cuvees, praise be. The Gundersheimer is vibrant and waxy, the Westenhofer is rich and yellow-fruited, and the Niersteiner is powerful and juicy. They all sound pretty good, don’t they? Probs best to get all three. Teehee.

If you really are committed to dry Jan (and you’re still reading this for some reason, the reason presumably being that you’re trying to torture yourself), you’re probably gonna want a reward for all that hard sober work you’re going to do. What better way than to bag a ticket for our next two tastings? Beautiful Beaujolais on the 12th of Feb and mind bending skin contact on the 11th of March. Seems like a lifetime away, I know, but time flies when you’re counting down the days til you can drink again. C. U. There.

xoxo

Megan