In the late nineteenth century
German immigrants brought with them Riesling vines, named Johannisberg Riesling to qualify them as “legitimate” German Riesling.
New York, particularly in the
Finger Lakes region, was one of the earliest U.S. producers of Riesling. Plantings started to appear in
California by 1857 and followed in
Washington State in 1871.
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New York Riesling generally has a characteristic effervescent light body with a similarly light, mellow flavor. The wine can be dynamic though rarely robust, and ranges from dry to sweet. New York is also a notable producer of Riesling-based
ice wine, although a large majority of New York Ice Wine is made from
Vidal blanc and
Vignoles.
In
California, Riesling lags far behind
Chardonnay in popularity and is not as commonly planted. A notable exception is the growing development of high quality Late Harvest dessert wines. So far, the Late Harvest wines most successfully produced are in the
Anderson and
Alexander Valleys where the weather is more likely to encourage the needed botrytis to develop. The Riesling that does come out of California tends to be softer, fuller, and having more diverse flavours than a "typical" German Riesling.
