Compatible Characteristics

• Pork is often cooked and served with apples, peaches, apricots and citrus fruits. A fruit-based sauce to glaze pork chops as they cook or to serve tableside is an ideal way to complement any riesling wine. Rieslings are noted for their easy-to-drink balance of acidity and sugar, making them a suitable pairing for many foods in addition to pork. This balance of acid and sugar makes them highly compatible with salty foods, such as brined pork chops, and its natural effervescence cleanses the palate of the greasy mouth-feel often left behind when eating rich meat sauces. Serve riesling with fish, seafood and poultry dishes and with lighter fare, such as salads and sandwiches. Surprisingly, delicate riesling holds its own against spicy, ethnic foods from Latin America, Northern Africa, the Middle East and Asia. A dry riesling served for Thanksgiving dinner works as well as turkey and dressing, and it is a sure winner when served at a festive brunch gathering.

Riesling Flavor Components

• The flavors of fresh fruits are clear in riesling wines and they add to the wine’s distinctive floral bouquet, too. Rieslings run the gamut from dry and delicate to the exceptionally sweet, full-bodied late-harvest and ice wines.

  Personal preference is always the best reason for choosing a particular riesling but, for more precise pairing, the fruitier-flavored rieslings will prove more satisfying with lightly seasoned pork chops or those glazed or served with fruit-based sauces. Go for a drier riesling when enjoying spicy foods. Reserve the late-harvest or ice wines for after-dinner fruit and cheese platters or when serving lightly flavored desserts, such as angel food or pound cake and light custards that aren't so sweet they compete with the sweetness of the wine.

  Riesling wines take on the characteristics of the region in which it is grown, which can be a reliable indicator of which riesling to serve with a particular menu. Find the full flavors of apple, apricot and peach in rieslings grown in warmer climates; these rieslings pair nicely with the spicier foods traditionally served in warm regions. Serve lighter, more delicate rieslings with flavors reminiscent of citrus, pear and quince with foods native to regions where the weather -- and the cuisine -- are cooler.

Domestic Rieslings

• American vintners have been producing riesling wines since the 19th century. The highest-quality domestic rieslings come from the Finger Lakes district of New York, the cooler regions of California and the state of Washington. These areas share enough geographic similarities with Germany and the Alsace region of Europe, where the riesling grape originates, that the riesling grapes grown in these U.S. regions produce respectable competition to imported rieslings. Important geographic similarities include mountain slopes facing the warm southern sun, high latitudes, a slate-filled landscape and big bodies of water or rivers nearby.

Shopping for Riesling Wines

• Look for rieslings in tall, skinny bottles with no "shoulders." Sunlight easily affects the quality of riesling wines in the bottle, so riesling bottles are usually blue, green or brown to protect the wine within. Serve rieslings well chilled.