Another stunning Australian Riesling

When it comes to wine, I'm easily smitten. No one-grape man I, I'm generally ready for a flirtation with just about any new grape or region that strolls down the street, winks and says, "Hello, Sailor!"

But my latest infatuation comes as a bit of a surprise, because it involves a grape variety that most of the world loves but that I've generally left standing against the wall, waiting for the next guy to come along and take to the dance.

I'm talking about Riesling, the subject of this month's Wine Focus. It's widely ranked as one of the world's most noble grapes, with extra credit for food-friendliness.

But my personal taste buds have always found it just a little too intense, like a television with the contrast and brightness turned up too high; and the slight to extreme sweetness that accompanies many (not all) Rieslings is also a bit of a turnoff for me.

But then I started tasting Australian Riesling again, really for the first time since my last trip to Oz in 2003. Whoa! Puppy love! At this point I'm still working from a small recent sample, but the Aussies I've tasted so far this month have shown a consistent clarity and cut, steely acidity and intriguing minerality, all wrapped up in an elegant but austere bone-dry package that totally recalibrates my attitude about Riesling.

My friends tell me that a great vista is opening up before me now ... that once pointed in the right direction I'll be able to find more like this from Austria, from Alsace, and indeed from Germany itself, not to mention the New World. It's a new way of seeing Riesling, and at this point I'm ready for more.

Monday I reported on the delicious Alkoomi 2006 Riesling from the Frankland River region in Westerm Australia. Today's report features Wakefield 2005 Riesling, another delicious example of the Australian style from a more traditional Riesling region, the Clare Valley. My tasting notes are below.

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