Originally published on November 14th, 2010.
There are many many meals at which a Riesling would be the perfect wine. The typical Thanksgiving spread is one of those meals. Riesling is light enough so that you can drink a lot of it. It won’t overwhelm the many flavors on the table. It has the acidity to keep your palate prepped for the next bite of whatever is on your fork. If there is one “exactly right” wine you could serve, Riesling is probably it.
I can tell you this. I can turn cartwheels while I tell you this. I can swear on various graves and religious texts and firstborn children. And you probably won’t believe me. Because it’s “Riesling.” And you don’t like Riesling. Because it’s sweet. And you don’t like sweet things (except for diet coke, and VitaminWater, and pumpkin spice lattes, and a bunch of other sweet things.) And I can tell you that you’ve probably only had badly balanced Riesling where the sweetness sticks out and gets a bit cloying. I can tell you that a hint of perfectly balanced sweetness is exactly what makes the wine work so well with so many food.
I can tell you all this and you still won’t believe me. So I’ll just try a little tough love.
GET OVER IT!
Man up (or woman-up) (A NOTE FROM THE FUTURE: or how about just “human up”) to a wine that will really do justice to your Thanksgiving meal. Just try it. We have a selection of Gunther Steinmetz wines – Gunther Goodness if you’re feeling cheeky. They’re arranged below from dry to somewhat sweet. But all are perfectly balanced. Just get one of each, drink them in the order below…and then just try to tell me you don’t like Riesling.
Gunther Steinmetz Rieslings (Mosel, Germany)
Trocken 2009 1 Liter
Price: $14.99
Brauneberger Juffer Kabinett Feinherb 2009
Price: $19.99
Mulheimer Sonnenlay Spatlese 2009
Price: $22.99