New World: Riesling
2015: Gold 2 Silver 5 Bronze 6 Commended 12
2014: Gold 2 Silver 9 Bronze 3 Commended 5
Sommeliers love Riesling the way that Nigel Farage loves winding up the Tories. The problem is that, as with the ironically initialled leader of UKIP, not all the public appreciate what it stands for. And because Riesling is not an easy sell, this inevitably limits the number of places it can get on the Gold List. So two Golds and 11 other medals was a decent effort.
Another limiting factor is quality. While Australia seems to be quite confident with the grape (and has a reasonably consistent style) the rest of the New World’s efforts are patchier. New Zealand, in particular, seems to be really struggling with the variety.
From The Tasting Teams
‘Riesling is a terroir-driven grape variety and there were some good examples from Australia. There was a diversity of styles, and the balance was good.’ Andrea Fasan, La Petite Maison
‘There’s nice acidity here, that will match with any creamy dishes – and also Asian cuisine.’ Richard Brookes, Caroline Catering
‘The Kiwi wines were all over the place stylistically. They had no idea of what they wanted to do. They fell between the austerity of Australian styles and the fruitier Germanic styles. They should make good Riesling. The climate is right.’ Tom Forrest, team leader
‘With the exchange rate where it is, the prices from Australia were amazing really.’ Gustavo Medina, Rex Whistler Restaurant
‘There was not much from New Zealand that would make you point a customer towards it.’ Giancarlo Cuccuru, The Gilbert Scott
‘If you want to push Riesling, it has to be by the glass, so you have to get behind the variety. Also, you should never have one Riesling on your list, you need different styles, dry and sweet, to meet different customer expectations.’ Maria Rodriguez, consultant sommelier