What is the taste of riesling?

Riesling is on record as being planted in the Alsace region by 1477 when its quality was praised by the Duke of Lorraine. Today over a fifth of Alsace's vineyards are covered with Riesling vines, mostly in the Haut-Rhin district, with the wine produce here being very different from neighboring German Riesling. This is partly from difference in the soil with the clay Alsatian soil being more dominately calcareous then the slate composition of Rheingau. The other differences come in wine making styles, with the Alsatian preferring more french-oriented methods that produce wines of higher alcohol content (normally around 12%) and more roundness due to longer time spent aging in the barrel. In contrast to German wine laws, Alsatian rieslings can be chaptalized.