Riesling

WhiteVinifera white

Mosel and Rheingau

Lime, green apple and, with age, kerosene. The highest-acid classic white, which is why it ages for decades and carries sweetness without cloying.

At harvest

Each bar drawn against the full range of all 54 varieties

Sugar

19-24 Brix

19 - 24

Titratable acidity

7-10 g/L

7 - 10

2.9-3.3

2.9 - 3.3

Juice yield

0.65 L/kg

free run plus a gentle press

Sugar per kilogram

152 g

at 21.5 Brix, the midpoint

Fruit for 23 litres

35 kg

before racking losses

Potential alcohol

11.8-12.9%

from 1.090 fermented dry. A range, because conversion varies by strain

What it punishes

Fermenting it dry by default. Riesling's acidity often needs residual sugar for balance, and stopping a ferment cleanly takes planning.

Made into

Off-dry white
Dry white
Late harvest

Sulphite at this pH

At pH 3.10, protecting a white wine to 0.8 mg/L molecular SO2 takes 16 mg/L of free SO2. Work it out for your own reading.

Recipes on this site that use it

Aromatic white

Off-dry Riesling

35 kg · 21.5 Brix · 11.8%

Picked off the midpoint on purpose

More vinifera white

21-24 Brix

Chardonnay

Burgundy, and every wine country since

20-23 Brix

Sauvignon Blanc

Loire and Marlborough

21-24 Brix

Pinot Gris

Alsace and northern Italy

21-26 Brix

Muscat

Everywhere around the Mediterranean

22-26 Brix

Gewurztraminer

Alsace

23-26 Brix

Viognier

Condrieu

20-25 Brix

Chenin Blanc

Loire and South Africa

21-24 Brix

Semillon

Bordeaux and the Hunter Valley