Drink This Now! Lesson 5 - Blog Due 4/14/24

 Drink This Now: Lesson 5

I decided to do the Drink This Now: Lesson 5. The objective of this lesson was to taste dry vs. sweet Riesling when it is at room temperature vs. chilled. When I went to the store to buy both Rieslings I couldn't find the wines on the list, but I talked to an employee and they recommended similar wines to the ones on the list. These were Rhein 2022 Riesling Dry Dr. Hans VonMuller and Dr. Leimbrock 2019 Riesling Spatlese Mosel. 

Both dry and sweet Rieslings

Step 1 was to open the bottles pour a glass of each wine for the room temperature glasses and refrigerate the rest. After about an hour I poured another glass of each wine for the chilled glasses needed. 

All four glasses two dry and two sweet

Step 2 was to try the chilled dry Riesling first and then sweet Riesling. Here are my observations;

            Dry: The color was clear and light with a slight yellow hue. The smell has hints of apples and 

                     pears. In my opinion, I tasted earthy notes like minerals. Along with citrus and apples. Had a                      medium-light body. It was not my favorite. Can't say I am the biggest fan of dry white wine. 

            Sweet: The color was more yellow and not as clear as the dry Riesling. The smell has hints of                                 tropical fruits and honey. I tasted honey, lemon, apricot, and apples. Had a medium-light                             body. I definitely liked the chilled sweet Riesling more than the chilled dry. 

Step 3 was to try the room-temperature dry Riesling and then the chilled dry Riesling. Then do the same with the sweet Riesling. And assess the differences between the chilled and room temperature versions. I ended up doing this three times and had a piece of plain bread when going back for the dry Riesling after trying the sweet Riesling, to cleanse palate from lingering sweet taste.   

               

Step 4 was to try bread or water to cleanse the palate which helped between trying each round of dry and sweet Riesling. 

Step 5 was to analyze each Riesling when chilled and at room temperature. Overall, the room temperature dry was better than the warm one and the chilled sweet was better than the warm one.

            Dry: Room temperature smoother, light-bodied, and notes of apricot. The taste was the same with                      earthy notes. The color stayed the same. Other than that the taste had some similarity with                         hints of apples and pears. 

            Sweet: Chilled tasted slightly less sweet as mentioned in the lesson the process of chilling a wine                            should reduce the perception of sweetness. In this case, it was enough to enhance the                                    Riesling just enough were the wine wouldn't be too sweet compared to the room-                                       temperature Riesling. The room-temperature Riesling had notes of citrus, honeysuckle, and                         honey. Similar to the chilled, but definitely more on the sweeter side.   

Overall, the lesson was great. It really helped me understand how chilling a wine affects its flavors and aroma. I learned so much and can't wait to try out more lessons.