Wine and hemlines are both susceptible to the whims of fashion. In recent years, the Riesling grape suffered from a dowdy reputation. During the big red wine boom of the '90s, it was shunned as a pale wallflower.
These days, Riesling is gradually re-emerging as a buzzword among wine cognoscenti. It possesses a kind of antihero appeal -- so resolutely unhip that it's cool. Reisling now appears on wine lists at hot California restaurants like San Francisco's Slanted Door and the Wine Cask in Santa Barbara. Sleek, new-wave Rieslings are turning up in wine shops in Japan.
If you have not tried Riesling lately, there are good reasons to find out what its comeback is all about. Riesling is often a superb choice to accompany the Asian fusion cuisine that influences restaurant menus from Sydney to Los Angeles. Classic Asian fusion fare is charged with spice. Tannic red wines undergo a numbing battle with spicy heat, while Riesling's bright, citrusy acidity just dances with it.