What do you mean ..."Yolk and Tang"

There is the obvious and then there is Riesling. A grape varietal with its feet in in the tertiary and mind in the celestial

There’s so much to say in so little time so id suggest you start down the path of understanding and join me and the fabulous staff of Ecco restaurant this coming Aug 19th at 6:30 for the first ever Riesling wine dinner. Alike most Ecco wine functions the idea is that you effortlessly attend. To procure this objective we’ve taken the hit so you don’t. 50$ ++ gets you an evening full of righteous flav’a and an amazing introduction to some of the most accessible and brilliant Rieslings available in the Atlanta market. Truly great is this opportunity if you want to better your relationship with the king of the blanc!

originally billed as “ yolk and tang” ( later thought to be too esoteric) the menu still rides the glistening rails of the sleek, blade like mineral backbone and offers up a gastronomic tribe of egg focused preparations sure to do what they’re supposed to. And that’s the truth ruth !

here is a bit of history to perk your curiosity….

The Riesling vine can be traced back to Germany and the year 1435. The first documented evidence comes from the cellar log of Count Katzenelnbogen at Ruesselsheim on 13th March 1435, when Klaus Kleinfish purchased six Riesling vines for the sum of 22 solidi. There are other supposed 'first plantings' but without the documented evidence: Wachau in Austria in 1232, Westhofen in Rheinhessen in 1402 and Alsace in 1348. An undocumented tale of Riesling from the 14th century has the Cistercian Monks at Eberbach disappointed in their light Rheingau reds compared to the French reds. Their instruction to their growers to remove all plantings other than the white vines ensured the spread of the Riesling vine. In 1464 the St Jacob Hospice in Trier purchased 1,200 'Ruesseling' vines. 1490 sees another reference to 'Ruessling hinder Kirssgarten' (Riesling behind the cherry orchard) and a 'Rissling wingart' at Pfeddersheim in 1511 shows that Riesling was starting to spread.

The name Riesling seems a bit harder to clarify. 'Russ' means dark wood and this along with the grooved bark gives the resultant root word 'rissig'. Another likely reference relates to Rieslings poor flowering in cold weather which is described by the German words 'verrieseln' or 'durchrieseln'. Hieronymus Bock refers to Riesling in 1552 and also in a later version of his book on herbs in 1577 he mentions Riesling growing in 'the Mosel, the Rhein and the environs or Worms'. In 1716 the Prince-Abbey of Fulda purchased the rundown Benedictine Abbey in Johannisberg in the Rheingau. 294,000 Riesling vines from Ruedesheim, Eberbach, and Floersheim were planted during 1720 to 1721 to replace the neglected plantings. Clemens Wenzeslaus, Elector of Trier, on 8th May 1787 proclaimed at all inferior vines be dug up and replanted with noble (Riesling) varieties.

By the end of the 19th century Riesling was the dominant variety and had established a reputation for its versatility and developed regional harvesting regime and vinification standards which were used later to develop the ripeness classification system use today. Misunderstood but never misguided, Riesling for me is one of the most inspiring wines in the world. Breakfast, chocolate, rare beef and brined fruits, Riesling has the ability to be the counterpart and brilliant pairing partner.