Riesling isn’t a cultivar that’s captivated me. Vague recollections of disastrous examples from early drinking days led me to think the wines were probably best for stripping red wine stains created by better-tasting counterparts – til I read Edo Heyns’ article in a recent issue of Wineland. His comments on the rise in quality of South African examples were happily front of mind when I saw him at an industry meet a few days down the track. Interest piqued, I volunteered to help organize a tasting for a small group of friends.

A tasting of this nature is surprisingly easy to arrange. An excellent deal was offered by Anne de Jager of Nice on the R44, Edo sourced the samples, and Carl Schultz of Hartenberg – himself a Riesling winemaker of CWG fame, kindly offered to host.

Carl almost managed to upstage the wines with his informative and passionate presentation, but the wines really shone across the board. ‘Diesel’ is not a descriptor that tantalizes most, but there is something very engaging about a lanolin-like nose that follows through to a dry-belying sweetness on the palate. Two wines in particular stood out for me: the Thelema Rhine Riesling 2008 and the De Wetshof Rhine Riesling 2006. The Weisser’s didn’t do it for me, though Lukas Wentzel of Groote Post, who was seated next to me, would probably attribute that to my nationality ;-)