What says summer more than a platter of hot, just-off-the-grill chicken legs slathered in smoky, spicy barbecue sauce and paired with a chilled bottle or two of a crisp white wine? Make that white a riesling. You'll get a dry, lively flavor that can take the saucy heat and an intriguing aroma.

Riesling is one of the most versatile food wines ever created, the pros all agree. You can pour it with everything from Thai green curry chicken to trout in a French mushroom cream sauce. But the American public has largely raised its communal nose at the variety, going instead for chardonnays, sauvignon blancs and pinot grigios.

I suspect there are a number of reasons:

1. The riesling grape has its roots in Germany, which for many can conjure up nightmares of tongue-twisting German wine names rendered in heavy Gothic script.

2. Riesling can range from bone dry to very sweet. Most folks fear all rieslings are sweet. Personally, that doesn't bother me. A little (or a lot) of honeyed sweetness can make this spicy, fruity wine explode with countless layers of flavor — apricot, pineapple, mango and peach. But if you don't want the sweet, you don't have to have it.

3. Don't look for the grassy tang of a sauvignon blanc or the buttery plushness of a chardonnay. Rieslings are distinct, original. You have to be a bit daring to try them. The good thing is, because rieslings haven't been very popular in the American market, you can get a lot of quality bang for your buck.

Interestingly, all of this could be changing. Statistics from The Nielsen Co. show riesling has been the fastest-growing white wine sold, both in the number of bottles and dollars spent, over the last year (ending June 26).
Nielsen reports volume sales up 11.5 percent; only pinot noir, a red, scored a greater increase.

What this says to me is simple: Try a riesling today. It's summer, and living is easy. Dare to experiment.

They scored Seven Hills Riesling!
2008 Seven Hills, Columbia Valley: A herbaceous nose translates into something of a grassy flavor. Yet, there's enough soft fruit here to work well with the chicken in barbecue sauce. If anything, the wine tastes sweeter with the chicken. ✭✭ $14

Ask your Cream sales rep about our Rieslings. We have German Rieslings in stock too!