Peter Nicolay Erdener Treppchen Off-dry 2015

“I don’t think I like people period. I mean, you guys are okay... I’m just trying to be honest about being a misanthrope.” – Dazed and Confused (1993)

The first time I heard that quote, it rang so very true for me, of course I was a rather angst-y, antisocial teen at the time so that was understandable. It also gave me a new favorite way to describe myself (much to my mother’s chagrin):

mis·an·thrope. noun. A person who dislikes humankind and avoids human society.

So then, you might wonder, what the hell am I doing working in customer service? Simple… my love for wine is stronger than my distaste for humanity. I really do enjoy talking to people about wine and I love being able to convince them to try something simply based off my enthusiasm for it. Obviously not every person I talk to gives a damn about my opinion and there are days when I only deal utterly unpleasant people (who probably think I’m full of crap), but those just serve to make the good interactions that much better.  And sometimes it’s not just about finding someone a wine to suit their tastes, occasionally they also need a wine to suit their issues as well. It happens often enough that I’ve gotten rather good at wine and woes pairings (maybe even better than I am at wine and food pairings). It also tends to make them more willing to let me steer them towards something that might be outside of their comfort zone.  

Perhaps unsurprisingly, most of these “therapy” sessions involve relationship issues. Usually I run into someone desperately checking every bottle in our Moscato section, because even though that’s their drink of choice they’d never before realized how low the alcohol content was and really need something with a little more kick to properly drown their sorrows in… and that is all I need to introduce them to the awesomeness that is Riesling!*

Riesling is my go-to in those situations because the wines made from it vary in sweetness, but no matter if its dry, sweet or somewhere in-between the complexity of the grape still shines through. My favorite suggestion these days is Peter Nicolay Erdener Treppchen off-dry Riesling from the Mosel in Germany. Mosel is one of Germany’s thirteen quality wine regions, or anbaugebiete, and is one of Germany’s oldest winegrowing regions, known for its light, delicate Rieslings. The Peter Nicolay has bright acidity with crisp notes of white peach, green apple and a hint of honeysuckle. Even though it’s on the dryer side, there’s still enough sweetness that I’ve found it to be a good starter Riesling for Moscato junkies.

*For the record there is nothing wrong with drinking Moscato, (I started off my wine journey drinking Boone’s Farm and thinking Yellow Tail was the height of class) therefore I have no right to judge anyone on their preferences… but there’s still better stuff out there to explore!