Wine professionals often list riesling as their favourite grape, and with good reason. Flavours in wines made from the grape show a distinct sense of terroir. Winemaking is minimalist, enhancing the fruit's purity. Secondary fermentation and maturation in new oak are rare, leaving delicate flavours. As Jeffrey Grosset of Grosset Wines puts it, "making riesling is the purest form of winemaking".
Professionals also like the great diversity of styles from dry, off dry and sweet to sparkling wines. They also expect intense fruit aromatics and crisp acidity.
High-quality riesling has great cellaring potential: at least a few decades, and while it ages, it gains complexity and depth of flavour.
Even though riesling is an aromatic variety like sauvignon blanc, it does not enjoy the same popularity. Perhaps the aromatics are not as easily recognisable and tend to be more subtle and discreet.
Moreover, wine labels from Germany are difficult to understand. There is also a misperception that riesling wine styles are just sweet wines. For those looking for the drier styles here are a few wines that you may want to try.