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Too many wine drinkers still mistakenly pigeonhole riesling as sweet and innocuous — a guilty pleasure, perhaps, but best enjoyed in private, far away from the judgmental eyes of one's wine-snob friends.

Memo to those folks: You don't know what you're missing. And besides that — you're behind the times.

Finally — and fittingly — riesling appears poised to shed its uncool image. Riesling sales jumped 25.2 percent in 2006, according to the Nielsen Company's "Beverage Alcohol Annual Snapshot: A Review of 2006 — What's Hot, and Not." That makes it the fastest-growing wine varietal in the country — faster even than Sideways-hip pinot noir (up 20 percent) and pinot grigio/pinot gris (up 18 percent). And some of the world's largest wine producers have taken notice and rolled out their own varietal bottlings of riesling.

'Bout darn time.

I've been on this bandwagon early and often, and have photographic proof, since the best photo taken of my bride and me at our wedding in 1983 shows me holding a glass of nectar-like German riesling — a 1976 vintage German wine. So let's just say my riesling appreciation has been honed by decades of research.

We wanted to explore the wines that were driving much of riesling's recent surge, so we gathered eight rieslings priced under $10 that are produced in large quantities and widely distributed, in grocery stores as well as wine shops. (The Nielsen trend-trackers say that nearly six out of 10 bottles of riesling sold in grocery stores range in price from $7 to $11.)

We assembled a tasting panel that included Mif Frank and Doug Simon, part of Arrow Wine & Spirits' brain trust that selects the wines for the shelves at Arrow's Far Hills Avenue store, along with Dayton Daily News Life section editor Connie Post and myself.

I encountered one mild surprise before we popped our first cork (or in the cases of two of the wines, unscrewed the cap): Even though the name Robert Mondavi is synonymous with California wine, the Woodbridge by Robert Mondavi riesling I bought was filled with German wine. Some California wine producers faced with scarce supplies of quality riesling juice — including Woodbridge, Fetzer and Pacific Rim — have turned to Germany to augment their supplies. But the highest-ranking German riesling came not from a California producer, but from a venerable brand those of a certain generation will certainly remember: Blue Nun.

Two wines tied for "Best Riesling" honors, and both cost a humble $8.99: the Cavit 2005 Riesling from Italy, and the Chateau Ste. Michelle 2005 Riesling from Washington state. Both were delicious and would make for some very enjoyable summertime sipping.

So go ahead — serve them to your wine-snob friends. Just don't tell them what they're drinking.

Contact this reporter at (937) 225-2258 or mfisher@DaytonDailyNews.com.

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