Riesling Global

RIESLING: THE BEST WHITE WINE IN NEW YORK WINE CITY!

RIESLING: THE BEST WHITE WINE ON EARTH!

“Fulfilled with meaning / let’s sip the Riesling”

Theophilus London, ‘Flying Overseas’ (from the EP ‘Lovers Holiday’, Warner Bros, 2011)

STUART PIGOTT RIESLING GLOBAL, the online home of the never-ending Riesling Story, is now more than a year old and has started to gain some serious attention. Thank you all! During that time it’s enabled me to discover a great deal of about Riesling, wine and our world which I didn’t know before. I’ve passed on as much of this as I could and posted dozens of your comments, some of which were not only interesting, but also of a high artistic standard. The last year involved much travel and on June 3rd I leave New York to hit the Riesling Trail again. Until June 18th I am on familiar territory between Seattle and Los Angeles and covering some distance by plane, but then from June 19th as part of the Riesling Road Trip from Los Angeles to New York entirely by the land route including the dessert that stretches from Southeastern California to West Texas. That is a daring if not madcap (ad)venture the consequences of which cannot be foreseen…WISH ME LUCK!

Until recently I told the story in words and still pictures, but the video I filmed in New York, Berlin and the Rhine Valley last year, Riesling Return Ticket: Berlin – New York, has changed all that. Just click on the link below.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DhOm5OsOt0k&feature=youtu.be

It is only a beginning though, a trial run for the movie I began shooting at the STUART PIGOTT RIESLING GLOBAL Party at American Flatbread TriBeCa on the evening of January 22nd, the second shoot took place at a secret location in Brooklyn/NY on February 17th and the third on the stand of Weingut Tesch (of Langenlonsheim/Nahe) at the ProWein trade fair in Düsseldorf on March 25th. The film now has a title: WATCH YOUR BACK (a Riesling movie). During my recent stay in New York I also begun serious work on a book that explores the 21st century Riesling phenomenon in all its beauty and complexity. New York really helped me to get a fresh perspective on that and I will continue to hone these ideas in Berlin during the coming weeks. More details will follow soon! Of course, I’ll also continue regularly reporting on the Global Riesling Phenomenon as it unfolds around me and on the other side of Planet Wine.

My favorite grape originated in the German Rhine Valley about six centuries ago, but has come a long way since then, now thriving in dozens of niches scattered around the globe. Riesling wines are enjoyed by ever more people in all the places that fermented grape juice is drunk, providing powerful refreshment for body and soul to untold millions. However, Riesling is so much more than this. It is also a movement, a spirit and a force. Hence the need for this site.

Though difficult to pin down, the RIESLING SPIRIT is inclusive and democratic, rather than exclusive and snooty. The white wines of our favorite grape are incredibly diverse, not only in type (sweet, dry, light, powerful), but also in aroma and flavor. From Alsace/France to Australia via Austria Riesling grows alongside other grape varieties. These are as varied as Pinot Gris (Alsace), Grüner Veltliner (Austria) and Syrah/Shiraz (Australia). For these reasons, and because enjoying Riesling encourages open-mindedness, we also enjoy a great many other wines. However, we keep on coming back to our favorite grape, because there’s nothing else like it.

The goal of this site is to expand our experience and understanding of Riesling not by small increments, but by leaps and bounds. The Great Riesling Story is bigger than any of us realize. Let’s reach out together and grasp it now! The STUART PIGOTT RIESLING GLOBAL logo proudly hangs from the masthead as a proclamation of my determination to follow the trail wherever it leads me regardless of the investment in time, energy and money. May the Force be with you!

Don’t forget that alcohol is a drug and Riesling contains alcohol!

Stuart Pigott, New York, June 2nd, 2013.

Photograph at the top of the page by Bettina Keller (February 2013), and at the bottom of the page Sorin Dragoi (Oktober 2011). Many thanks!