Riesling - Lip Smacking Paddy Whacking....

I haven't heard from the mayor, but I'm still promoting the idea.

Surely a city that supports a safe injection zone for drugs, a massive gay pride parade and Shakespearean festival in the park, has the flexibility to embrace the notion of sipping riesling with food on a regular basis.

I admit that a lot of the riesling pairings I prefer mix off-dry examples with spicy foods, but there is another side. Dry riesling works just as well with lighter meats and chicken, and a variety of local seafood and shellfish.

To get to the riesling dance you have to get by the no-oak, no-vanilla, no-butter and no-acid cravings. Life after oak can be shocking, if not downright lip-smacking, for some chardonnay drinkers, but the rewards are delicious -- fruit flavours redolent with mineral, citrus, peachy/slate and, best of all, lower alcohol.

Today we look at six rieslings in the B.C. market, but there are many more. It's a global mix, although all have at least a distant link to Germany via the grape's DNA. Whatever success riesling has achieved in Germany, and it is considerable, its resurgence in other parts of the world is the key to its future.

Australia's Clare and Eden Valley have had great success. Now after a decade of trial and plenty of error, B.C. riesling is beginning to show signs of strength thanks to Lang, Wild Goose, Gehringer, Hawthorne Mountain, Mission Hill and, as you will note elsewhere on this page today, a Kelowna winery named Tantalus.

We begin with a simple, straight-up, cool-climate version -- the Hawthorne Mountain Riesling 2005 from the Okanagan Falls area. Winemaker Dave Carson prefers to keep the fruit, and he's done it with a floral, ripe, red-apple-scented white that is flecked with bits of honey. The entry is fresh with mineral, nectarine skin and peachy, citrus-fruit flavours. It's a bit alcoholic, but otherwise well made. It has many food possibilities or simply serve it solo on the patio.

From nearby Washington state, a somewhat sweetish, attractive sipper you can pair with spicy food is the Columbia Crest Two Vines Riesling 2004. Look for floral, orange, candied green apple, melon aromas all wrapped about red apple, lime, mineral, candied-peach flavours. There's enough acidity to keep it fresh for the next bite of food.

Johannes Selbach loves Vancouver, and the German winemaker literally created the Selbach Riesling Dry (Red Fish Label) 2005 for our market. The Mosel riesling, now under screwcap, is fresh and juicy with hints of mineral and nectarine skin. It is very crisp on the palate, with juicy, green apple, white peach and spicy mineral flavours. Well structured with plenty of acidity and perfectly suited to a variety of foods.

The story of Ontario based Cave Springs is an interesting one. A benchmark producer of Ontario riesling, the Niagara winery has been trying to break into Western Canadian markets for some time with little success. Recently they have decided to concentrate on riesling in the West, and sales are turning around. Cave Spring Cellars Riesling Off Dry 2005 is an extremely fresh, all-stainless, steel-fermented wine, served up with a dash of residual sugar in the finish. Semi-dry it offers a mix of grapefruit with peachy/orange undertones, and just enough mineral to keep it interesting. Should be perfect with a wide variety of spicy Asian dishes. Good value here.

Back to Washington state via the Mosel and Santa Cruz for Bonny Doon winemaker Randall Grahm's wacky Pacific Rim Riesling 2004. Now very consistent from year to year with its floral, slate, leesy, green-apple-skin aromas. It's drier than previous editions, a la Austria perhaps, but we love the fresh front end with the nectarine/green apple skin, slatey, petrol flavours. The finish is flatter, showing slightly bitter-lime rind. It's 24 per cent Mosel; the juice is supplied by Johannes Selbach.

We finish up across the pond in Australia with Wolf Blass Riesling Gold Label 2003. Another screwcap finished bottle, the Gold Label blends fruit from the Eden and Clare valleys. Look for green apple notes with a touch of slate and wet cement on the nose with white peach, floral aromas, and a fresh clean finish. This is both elegant and dry with juicy lime, mineral, white-peach flavours. Classy, fresh and elegant.

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Hawthorne Mountain Riesling 2005, Okanagan Valley, British Columbia
Price: $13.49
UPC: 624738106935
Score: 86/100
Remarks: Serve as an aperitif or solo on a warm patio.

Columbia Crest Two Vines Riesling 2004, Columbia Valley, Washington
Price: $13.87
UPC: 088586421860
Score: 86/100
Remarks: Sweet-ish orange, red-apple flavours. Try with spicy Thai food.

Selbach Riesling Dry (Red Fish Label) 2005, Mosel-Saar-Ruwer, Germany
Price: $16.75
UPC: 717215001653
Score: 87/100
Remarks: Plenty of lip-smacking fruit and acidity; perfect for a variety of foods.

Cave Spring Cellars Riesling Off Dry 2005, Niagara Peninsula, Ontario
Price: $18.99
UPC: 00779334012033
Score: 87/100
Remarks: Semi-dry, it offers a mix of grapefruit with peachy/orange fruit.

Pacific Rim Riesling 2004, Washington, United States
Price: $18.82
UPC: 769434301274
Score: 88/100
Remarks: Love the fresh front end with the nectarine/green-apple-skin flavours.

Wolf Blass Riesling Gold Label 2003, South Australia
Price: $20.81
UPC: 098137333498
Score: 89/100
Remarks: Elegant and dry with juicy lime, mineral and white-peach flavours.