A Reason to Riesling

Wineries to visit: Cattail Creek, Konzelmann Estate Winery, Stonechurch Vineyards, Strewn Winery, Maleta Winery

Riesling is our unsung hero. Although eclipsed by the popularity of Chardonnay, Riesling is a true classic, thriving in our cool climate conditions. We create gorgeous aromatic Rieslings that are notable for their fine balance of acidity (a citrusy freshness that makes them a great partner to a wide variety of foods) and mineral and fruit flavours. If you’re looking for a white wine that is versatile beyond compare, this is the wine to explore.

The Riesling is a grape variety that Cattail Creek Estate Winery loves to grow, because the result is a wine that they love to enjoy. Cattail Creek really likes to have fun with this grape variety for its versatility. The winery itself is located in the heart of the family’s Riesling vineyard, which has numerous lots of Riesling vines with different ages and different clones. The Dry Riesling is made in a crisp, refreshing style, or perhaps the Off-Dry Riesling will be more to your taste with its hint of sweetness. The Riesling Reserve is made from the family’s oldest Riesling vines planted in 1976.

Herbert Konzelmann, fourth generation wine master in Germany, and founder of Konzelmann Estate Winery is celebrating 115 years of winemaking and 25 years of producing German-style Rieslings in Niagara. The winery showcases dry, off-dry, late harvest and Riesling Icewine.

Stonechurch Vineyards’ The long warm growing season of 2007 allowed out Riesling grapes to develop rich, fragrant tropical fruit aromas. It is also available in our Niagara Series bottles, which display a colourful picture of the Niagara escarpment.

At Strewn Winery, Riesling is viewed as the underrecognized, over-achiever among Ontario wines. Riesling’s hallmark is acidity - the refreshing cleansing quality that makes it a wonderful companion for food - and it also lends itself to stylistic variation. Strewn’s “Terroir” Riesling is fully dry with a mineral, citrus palate and crisp acidity; Strewn Semi-Dry Riesling is more floral and tropical fruit with a hint of sweetness; and Strewn Riesling Icewine has complex aromas and a luscious texture.

At Maleta Winery, there is more than one Reason to Riesling; in fact, there are four. All our Rieslings are produced from the vineyard’s 40-year-old vines, and include both a dry and a medium-sweet style, a Riesling Icewine, and a fabulous sparkling wine produced in the méthode traditionelle.

Click here to Download a PDF of this page