Riesling: taste, styles and the dishes that match
26 styles and 240 dish scores from our sommelier database
Riesling belongs to the grapes every wine lover meets sooner or later. This guide lays out what defines the grape, which styles exist and — based on our sommelier scoring — which dishes it performs best with, Apple pie, Cream, Sugar leading the list.
Taste profile (Wine DNA)
Averaged across the styles in our database, Riesling shows pronounced freshness, is medium-bodied and exuberantly fruity, with barely any tannin.
Well-known Riesling styles
- Riesling New World Late Harvest · New World — medium-bodied, fresh acidity, off-dry to sweet
Laat geoogste en daardoor zoete witte wijn uit de Nieuwe Wereld van de gelijknamige druif. - Riesling Sekt · Germany — light-bodied, pronounced freshness
A tight and very high acidity sparkling white wine from the Riesling grape. - Riesling Auslese · Germany — medium-bodied, pronounced freshness, off-dry to sweet
A classic sweet German Riesling with lots of acidity, floral and light in style and with substantial residual sweetness. - Riesling Beeren- and Trockenbeerenauslese · Germany — full-bodied, pronounced freshness, off-dry to sweet
A classic richly sweet German Riesling, from only botrytis infected grapes and with lots of residual sweetness. - Riesling d'Alsace Selection Grains Nobles · Alsace — full-bodied, pronounced freshness, off-dry to sweet
Richly sweet riesling wine made from fully botrytis affected grapes. - Riesling d'Alsace Vendange Tardive · Alsace — full-bodied, pronounced freshness, off-dry to sweet
Late harvested Riesling from Alsace, combining considerable residual sweetness with fresh acidity. - Riesling Kabinett · Germany — light-bodied, pronounced freshness
Friendly and agreable, sweeter style and fine fruity type of Riesling from Germany. - Riesling Spätlese · Germany — medium-bodied, pronounced freshness, off-dry to sweet
Late harvested and medium sweet white wine from Germany from the grape variey by the same name, High acidity and very floral.
Price-wise Riesling covers the full range: of the 26 styles in our database, 58% sit in the entry segment, 35% mid-range and 8% at the top end. You will find both a weekday bottle and a cellar-worthy wine in this grape.
The best-scoring dishes with Riesling
The dishes below come from our expert scoring: every combination was scored by sommeliers using the Wine DNA of both dish and wine. These are the strongest matches for Riesling styles, from classic to surprising.
- Apple pie, Cream, Sugar — best style: Riesling Auslese
- Duck liver terrine with apple — best style: TBA
- Oven prepared sauerkraut with pineapple — best style: Riesling Kabinett
- Gravlax with asparagus — best style: Riesling
- Oven prepared pike perch with hollandaise sauce — best style: Riesling
- Gravlax with asparagus and caviar — best style: Riesling
- Braised farm chicken with riesling — best style: Riesling Grosses Gewächs
- Braised farm chicken with riesling — best style: Riesling Grosses Gewächs
- Steamed Pheasant with Asparagus — best style: Riesling Grosses Gewächs
- Massaman curry — best style: Riesling Grosses Gewächs
- Khao Soi (Northern Thai curry noodles) — best style: Riesling Grosses Gewächs
- Dakgalbi (spicy Korean chicken) — best style: Riesling Grosses Gewächs
Want to know if a specific bottle of Riesling matches your dish? Scan the label in the SommelierX app and see the match instantly.
Open the app →Frequently asked questions
- What does Riesling taste like?
- Averaged across the styles in our database, Riesling shows pronounced freshness, is medium-bodied and exuberantly fruity, with barely any tannin. It varies by style: see the overview above.
- What food goes with Riesling?
- The highest scores in our sommelier work: Apple pie, Cream, Sugar, Duck liver terrine with apple, Oven prepared sauerkraut with pineapple. The full list is above.
- Is Riesling a white wine?
- In our database Riesling is mostly made as a white wine (26 linked styles); regional exceptions exist.