As a friend once noted, for most wine drinkers the riesling grape variety is the Rodney Dangerfield of grape varieties. No respect. In fact, most chardonnay and cabernet lovers cringe at the word.

Riesling conjures up images of sugary, syrupy, cloying sweet white wine.

Yet there are virtues to be found in a German riesling if we attempt to understand what it is trying to say.

First of all, riesling is one of the world’s finest grape varieties. When I was growing up in the wine industry, I was taught there were only five "noble" grape varieties — cabernet sauvignon, syrah and pinot noir for red wines and chardonnay and riesling for whites.

For centuries the riesling grape has proven itself capable of producing world-class wine. In fact, there was a stretch bridging a couple of centuries when the Schloss Johannisberg Riesling was regarded as one of the top three white wines of the world, with a high price tag befitting its reputation.

Furthermore, as with all grape varieties, riesling can be made dry, medium dry, slightly sweet or dessert. The point here: Not all riesling-based white wines are sweet. Whether a wine is dry or sweet is up to the winemaker.

Anyway, what’s wrong with slightly sweet? I love eating freshly cut pineapple, lychee and even tomatoes. Each has some level of sweetness along with its innate fruitiness.

And here is where the real understanding for riesling begins. Sweetness and fruitiness are distinct qualities.

Sweetness comes from a multitude of sugars found in the grape and the resulting wines (alcohol and glycerine also add to the perception of sweetness). Fruitiness is among the innate characteristics of any given fruit, but it does not mean sweetness.

It is the ethereal combination of fruitiness with well-rounded acidity and vineyard-driven minerality that constitute a well-made German riesling. It is the very reason that, along with the often lower alcohol levels, I look forward to a well-chilled glass during the hot summer months. Riesling is soothing, thirst-quenching and completely refreshing.

Here are a few worth checking out:

» The 2008 Donnhoff Riesling "Estate" (about $20 a bottle) is the handiwork of legendary wine maestro Helmut Donnhoff. This slightly sweet riesling is the perfect white wine to take to your favorite Chinese restaurant. It will counter all the salty, spicy characteristics of the food and cool and soothe the palate between bites.

» More readily available is the 2008 CF Riesling "Estate" (about $16), a blend of the four great vineyards of Germany’s Mosel River region, Graacher Himmelreich and Domprobst, Wehlener Sonnenuhr and Urziger Wurzgarten. It is crafted by Bert Selbach of Dr. F. Weins-Prum. The 2008 is delicious and amazingly light on the palate. It is the quintessential summer white wine and another ideal partner for Asian food.

» Just to change things up, for a wonderful medium-dry riesling, you can’t go wrong with the Zilliken Riesling "Butterfly" (about $24). Owner/winemaker Hanno Zilliken is a winemaking icon in Germany who always crafts pure, precise, riveting and classy riesling full of pedigree. This selection will be a bit higher in alcohol content than the first two, but it is still a refreshing wine.

» Finally, here’s a dry riesling. Consider the 2009 Willi Schaefer Graacher Riesling (about $20). Schaefer is another top-notch winemaker from Germany’s Mosel River region.This wine has a fruity perfume coupled with vineyard-driven slate nuances. Most tasters will think it has some sweetness because of the fruity perfume, but it is bone dry. Its best attribute is how friendly it is, and with a wide range of foods.

———

Chuck Furuya is a master sommelier and a partner in the DK Restaurants chain.