Riesling is very much on our radar this summer. Well it always is, but even more so thanks to Wines of Germany’s ’31 Days of German Riesling’ promo, now on across Canada. Drop by any participating resto* and you might just win yourself an all expense paid trip to Berlin—and likely a few slurps of wine.

As regular visitors know, we can get just a tad fanatical about this variety, so it should come as no surprise that we’re rolling out some seriously, amazing and awesome reasons as to why it’s time to get your German Riesling on.

1. Summer = Hot

Riesling is impossibly refreshing, and it’s very often much lower in alcohol by volume (ABV). All of which means you can look cool and stay cool— without acting un-cool.

2. Riesling = Dry

Contrary to what our parents told us, it’s not necessarily sweet. It might be fruity and floral (in fact it often is) but only sweet when it’s supposed to be—as in Beerenauslese or late harvest styles.  In fact, these days the wines are increasingly on the drier side.

3. Riesling = Smart

Amazing though it may seem, drinking Germany’s fave grape can make you even more intelligent than you already are. It’s a proven fact that anyone who can pronounce Balthasar Ress Hattenheimer Schutzenhaus must be pretty smart, as well as having good taste. (It’s a beautiful wine, btw.)  Although, if you just don’t have time to say that much, there are plenty of shorter names around these days, from ‘Unplugged’ to ‘Bird’ and ‘Fish.’

Riesling = Food

4. Riesling = Food.

There’s plenty of reasons why many chefs swear by ‘the ‘noble’ grape as the ultimate food wine. If it has a decent streak of acidity (it usually does) it can really make the dish sing—and thereby make the chef look even better. This grape is incredibly food friendly and extremely flexible.

5. Riesling = Value

One of the reasons that German Riesling is often ridiculously affordable is that, unlike other wines, nobody puts it into expensive oak barrels—or stuffs oak slats or giant oak teabags into it—to make it taste different than it really is. This ultimately saves trees too, which means you’ll be a much better person…

* For full contest details click here or on the box to the right