Four decades of Riesling – three from my mother’s mentor in the Mosel valley, the fourth from our Portuguese vineyard with grafted stock.

We had to do some cleaning of the cellar today, and I couldn't resist lining up a few bottles from the vintner who inspired and mentored my mum to start her own wine-making journey.

I'll preface with saying two things; first I'm almost a year sober, so any tasting notes are from memories or third-parties (yes you read that right, I'm sober and spend my free time making wine). Second, my mum is the expert but isn't yet on Reddit, so I might have to answer specific questions tomorrow when she's awake.

Okay back to the wine. Obviously reds are more known for their ageing, but I'm here to tell you…a really top quality Riesling wine with proper cork and storage? Liquid motherfucking gold. I can only remember a handful of times in my life when I've voluntarily ordered a white wine, because it's just not my jam you know? But after my stepdad died we decided to open up the wine cellar and live a little, and by the gods I swear there is magic that happens in those bottles over the years.

I have a mild case of synesthesia so my descriptions can be a bit…eccentric, but the only way I can really express it, is that it's like drinking golden sunlight juice for grownups but with all the nostalgia of tasting your very first sultana as a kid after only previously having tried raisins.

There is no bite. A passing hint of alcohol in the nose and throat (yes, that makes them very dangerous). The sweetness – especially with the later harvest runs – is different than a young eiswein; while sweet it's not sugary per se. More on the side of honey made from bees feeding on fruit trees. Again, it's really hard to find the right words to describe the flavours and mouthfeel of these wines since we're getting into the furthest edges of white wine ageing.

My mum's Riesling is on the dryer side, for a few reasons. First she opts for a cooler and slower fermentation – I know there's an important reason for this but I will have to ask her to remind me tomorrow because I have completely forgotten. The second reason is that portugal doesn't have the cold snap that the Mosel valley has, which as you may know bumps that sugar content for late harvest Rieslings and eiswein. We're going to experiment with fermentation temps next year to see if we can't preserve some of the sugars and then let time and nature do their thing.

Her first vintage was 2018, so we will have to wait some time to find out if the student will ever surpass the teacher…