EASTERN PROMISE

You say Welschriesling... I say Graševina... It may be unfamiliar to many outside its heartlands of Central & Eastern Europe, but this versatile white variety is quietly gaining traction, and has a firm foothold as far east as China

- DARREL JOSEPH

If ever there were a viticultural equivalent of a caterpillar turning into a butterfly, it must be Welschriesling. This white variety, widely grown throughout the many countries of its regional domain, Central and Eastern Europe and now even in volume in China - was for decades billed generally as a grape that made neutral, easy-drinking wine; rather simple and sour, even outright plonky; so much so that it was frequently spritzed with soda water for hot summer day gulping.

At best, it was vinified mainly as a sparkling wine or a component of; otherwise as a dry, still wine for immediate consumption, rarely lasting more than a year in bottle.

Now, though, Welschriesling is rapidly becoming a wine producer's darling. Ambitious wine-growers and winem have been digging deep to discover its true potential, and discovering that this late-ripening variety with moderate-to-generous acidity optimally reflects the terroir in which it grows - and this through nearly the entire wine style gamut, from sparkling, dry and semi-sweet, to botrytised, natural (or minimal intervention) and orange. Furthermore, it's not just for young quaffing, and can show superbly with lengthy ageing.

As a young wine, Welschriesling tends to display notes of apple, citrus, pear and almond. As it ages, it can reveal tropical tones such as mango and pineapple, and perhaps melon, honey and a herb and spice character (such as thyme or bay leaf accents). When honed from Central Europe's limestone or volcanic soils, there can be beautiful salinity.