D’Amato & Szabo: Wine Thieves – Episode 25: Riesling Day: 586 Years Young

The earliest-known written record of Riesling dates back precisely to March 13, 1435 in Germany, in the cellar log of Count John IV of Katzenelnbogen in Rüsselsheim, a town just south of the Rheingau. The log notes a purchase for 22 shillings of “seczreben Rießlingen in die wingarten – “Riesling cuttings for the vineyard”.  That’s why March 13th has been officially designated as Riesling’s big day,  and this year, 2021, mark’s its 586th birthday. Deutschland is its undisputed home, accounting for 45% of all the Riesling planted worldwide with 23,800 hectares under vine. So how better to celebrate this momentous occasion than at table with a quartet of Germany’s maximum Riesling artists? John and Sara welcome stars Johannes Selbach (Selbach-Oster) of the Mosel Valley, Johannes Leitz from  the Rheingau, Philip Wittman of the Rheinhessen, and twins Hans and Valentin Rebholz of Ökonomierat Rebholz in the southern Pfalz for a jovial ode to this favourite grape of all wine lovers and an exploration of the grosses gewächs, or grands crus, of these top producers. Learn your slate from your quartz, your Himmelreich from your Sonnenhur,  Roseneck from Rottland, Kirchspiel from Brunnenhäuschen, and Kastanienbusch from Ganz Horn, among others. Reminisce about the days when a bottle of cru classé St. Estephe sold for $5 and a bottle of Mosel for $8, get the table’s perspective on unforgettable food & Riesling pairings, and bonus: learn which rieslings these experts consider the benchmarks outside of Germany. Grab a glass of this beauty and don’t miss the riesling celebration!