Perhaps if the wine writers actually punted Riesling, the consumers would start noticing, and that notice would then reflect in their requesting it from their local bottle store or supermarket. And so the sales could possibly begin increasing.

Riesling is punted in Europe by wine writers in a major way but it remains a wine geek tipple there too. My guess is ordinary consumers are not confident enough yet to risk ridicule from their peers by sharing or displaying interest in wines with residual sugar. And with good smack of residual sugar is when steely, cool climate Riesling sings, with the Mosel and the measured play between sweetness and acidity of it's wines as star performer.

The 3 A's (Australia, Austria, Alsace) are the only places producing dry, racy, lime-and-wax perfumed Riesling of real interest imo. The German trocken Rieslings outside the Pfalz can be very bare and in my experience introducing the grape to friends, even more challenging than getting friends to actually buy that bottle of kabinett or spaetlese which they so loved when forced on them.

It's the AAA model SA producers should seek. We simply don't have the climate needed to emulate German wines and I've frankly given up on even trying SA Rieslings since they all seem to be made in the 'off-dry' style which can be very cloying. (Even New Zealand can't these right and you'd think the climate there would be better suited.)

This is a good piece of writing!
There is an outstanding white blend containing Riesling from the Hemel en Aarde Valley called Blanc de Mer!
This wine was even rated by Steven Spurrier (08 vintage). A little while back we tasted a 1991 and it was absolute bliss! ..like a walk in a field of flowers, with the sun on your back and a slight breeze on one's skin!
I can only recommend this!

Dieter thanks for the insightful comments. Riesling is a wine geek's variety. It expresses sight like no other grape (excepting perhaps Pinot Noir). I know I sound like a snob here, but I think in some ways Sauv blanc is to Riesling what Bordeaux(and its imitators) is to Burgundy. Sauv has mass appeal because it easy for a consumer in our current paradigm of obssesivley naming flavours to connect with and to understand: cut grass, passion fruit, boredom, nettles etc etc ad nauseam. Easy to recognise, name and feel good about oneself. It's a bit like kids that love sweet stuff but have no time for sweetbreads or stinky cheese as yet. These wines are begginers wines. Things like depth, texture, and origin are overlooked in favour of varietal expression.

Therefore, a variety like Riesling which is primarily an expressor of great vineyard sights like Wolfer Goldgrube, Scharshofberg, Saumagen, or Ackland is bound to get left behind when presented to a public that is for the all intents and purposes still very much in the beginning phase of wine appreciation. Sure, examples like Blue Nun ( based on Riesling) can do the job of varietal Riesling, but who's gonna get excited about that?

i've been studying Riesling for some time now and really belive there is hope for the Cape to produce some thrilling examples - but probablly not from its current plantings. I don't think anything we produce right now is truely fantastic. Some are very good at best.

The trouble is location. As I've said, one can produce good wines from Riesling close to the coast. They will taste and feel like coastal wines. Aromatic, perhaps a bit broad and weighty. Not bad stuff. However, if the variety is to truely sing, one needs to give it a continental sight. I worked in Clare and in the Mosel last year, and quite obviously their climates, although very differnent, are both distinctly continental.

We have continental places in the Cape, but the great sights are not yet planted, and therein lies my hope. I have spent significant time exploring these sights and can say with confidence that they are extraordinary. High, cold, and far inland. That 's the only kind place that Riesling will really respond to in the Cape. Change any one of those three factors, and mediocrity will creep back in.

Apologies for offending anyone.