The Grape: The Germans have long regarded the Riesling as, “the Queen of the grapes.” So they should. Good Riesling vintages have commanded high prices for centuries, but at a more practical level, there is no wine more broadly food and occasion-complimentary than the Riesling. The Wine: Typically fine Rieslings are all about subtle, honeyed fruit and mineral with a crisp, cleansing acidity. The Selbach Detzemer Maximiner Klosterlay Riesling Spatlese 2002 is a beautiful example of quality German Rieslings. Don’t be put off by the German word-train: Detzem (“er” = “from”) is the town and Maximin Klosterlay is the vineyard on the steps of an Abbey in the beautiful Mosel valley area of western Germany. And Spatlese simply means a later picking, more residual sugar, hence it’s fuller mouth-feel and honeyed texture. The Food: Enjoy this Selbach Riesling slightly chilled, alone as a sipper, or with a whole range of foods from the earth and sea: smoked meats and salmon, turkey, hams, chicken, a stir-fry, anything curried or Indian or Oriental or sweet and sour.