IRF announces 'Riesling Taste Scale'

Courtesy of Jim Trezise of the New York Wine & Grape Foundation, this report arived in my mailbox today from the International Riesling Foundation, of which he is president. Trezise has been dificult to nab over the past 30 days, but reading this release explains part of the reason. Obviously he's been doing some serious traveling. Eagles owner Jeffrey Lurie tops my "most wanted" list at my regular job as an editor at the Philly Daily News; I'd say Trezise holds the similar honor atop the list of folks I'd like to reach for this blog. We'll see who I manage to reach first.

The International Riesling Foundation (IRF) has completed the first phase of a “Riesling Taste Scale” designed to make it easier for consumers to predict the taste they can expect from a particular bottle of Riesling. The first phase involves voluntary technical guidelines for wine makers and winery owners in describing their wines for consumers.

Riesling is the fastest growing white wine in the United States, and second only to Pinot Noir of any wine, yet market research has shown that many consumers think of Riesling only as “a sweet white wine” despite the wide range of tastes it can represent.

“Riesling may be made in many styles from bone dry to sweet, and this versatility can be both a strength and a weakness,” said California wine journalist Dan Berger who spearheaded the IRF project in consultation with many Riesling wine makers. “Riesling’s many styles can fit almost any taste preference, but consumers may be put off if they are expecting one taste and get another. The taste scale will enhance Riesling’s strength by letting consumers know the basic taste before they open or even buy the bottle.”

The first stage of the project was to identify appropriate terms for describing the relative dryness or sweetness of the wine. After extensive deliberations, the five categories selected are: Dry, Off-Dry, Medium Dry, Medium Sweet, and Sweet.

To help wine makers consider which terms to use for various wines, the committee developed a technical chart of parameters involving the interplay of sugar, acid, and pH which helps determine the probable taste profile of a particular wine.

“It is important to understand that these are simply recommended guidelines which we think may be helpful, but the program is entirely voluntary,” said Berger. “We hope that over time many Riesling producers will use the system because it will help consumers, and therefore help the wineries as well.”

The next step is to develop a simple graphic design showing the five levels from Dry to Sweet, and a simple indication of where a particular wine falls. This design may be used on back labels, merchandising materials, web sites and elsewhere. The goal is to have a common, simple, consumer-friendly system for identifying Riesling tastes.

“This is a very important project, and we’re grateful to Dan Berger and others who have spent many hours on this,” said Jim Trezise, the current President of the IRF. “With Riesling’s surging popularity, making this versatile wine more understandable for consumers could accelerate its growth.”

The Riesling Taste Scale was first announced publicly on July 27 at the Riesling Rendezvous at Chateau Ste. Michelle in Woodinville, Washington to Riesling producers from around the world. Full details of the taste scale will be made public when the other steps are completed in the near future.

Market research on consumer perceptions of Riesling, conducted for the IRF by Wine Opinions, was also presented at the July 27 meeting. The next major project is to create a web site portal to guide consumers to the best information on Riesling.

A small luncheon meeting of industry leaders at the first Riesling Rendezvous a year ago created the concept for the IRF, which was officially formed in November 2007 and now includes a Board of Directors of more than 30 major Riesling producers from around the world.

The IRF’s mission is: “To increase awareness, understanding, trial and sales of Riesling wines through a comprehensive, integrated system of industry cooperation, research, trade education, and consumer communication.” At this time, the IRF is based entirely on voluntary efforts by its Board members.