Italian Riesling

Italian Riesling is not riesling and has no relationship to it. The name is a nuisance that has followed the grape across a dozen languages: welschriesling in Austria, graševina in Croatia, olaszrizling in Hungary, laski rizling in Slovenia, riesling italico in Italy. Its true origin is unknown, though it is almost certainly Central European rather than Italian.

It is one of the most planted white grapes of Central Europe, and it earns that on reliability rather than distinction. It crops well, holds high acidity, and gives a light, neutral, faintly green wine with apple and citrus and very little aroma. Yugoslav laski rizling in the 1970s was made in enormous volume, sold cheaply across Europe, and set the low expectation the grape still carries.

Restrained it is better than its reputation, and in two places it is genuinely good. Around Lake Balaton in Hungary, on basalt, it gains body and a smoky mineral edge. In Austria's Burgenland its thin skins rot readily in the autumn damp, which makes it a fine base for botrytised sweet wine, and the great Neusiedlersee dessert wines lean on it.