With their generally lower alcohol content, purer fruit expression and flexibility, rieslings are making a comeback on restaurant wine lists that accommodate everything from sushi to savory Mediterranean fare. The sushi shown here was prepared by chef Yutaka Saito of Saito's Japanese Café & Bar.

Chateau Ste. Michelle's Johannisberg Riesling, which sold more than 600,000 cases last year, is the No. 1-selling riesling in America. And get this: The winery insists that it still doesn't have enough, and must sell it "on allocation" — distributors receive a limited number of cases per market. That may in part be a tribute to Ste. Michelle's marketing muscle, but it also says a lot of folks out there really like this stuff.

"The tide has turned with riesling," agrees Master of Wine Bob Betz, who is the chateau's VP of research and education. He points to all kinds of reasons for the resurgence, but it boils down to this: "America may be losing its wine adolescence," he explains, picking his words carefully. "More people are ordering wine with confidence based on what their palate is telling them."

Riesling is a slippery grape to get a grip on. It comes in a wide variety of styles, from bone dry to decadently sweet. It is at once a wine that appeals to beginners (for its simple, fruity 'n' sweet versions); to adventurous consumers (who like it dry and serve it chilled with spicy Asian and Southwest cooking); and to collectors, who pay hundreds of dollars for exotica such as Ste. Michelle's "Single Berry Select." This dense, impossibly rich wine, made from grapes picked literally one at a time, is a collaboration with one of Germany's leading winemakers, Dr. Ernst Loosen. A half bottle sells for $200, and it's highly allocated.

SUITABLE FOR SAMPLING Riesling is the quintessential summer sipping wine. Here are some to try: Dry • Chateau Ste. Michelle 2001 Dry Riesling ($8). A limited edition bottling sold mainly in the Northwest. Fresh and inviting, with flavors of lime, rock and citrus rind; a textured, creamy mouthfeel. • Bonny Doon 2000 "Pacific Rim" Dry Riesling (about $10). Vivid, high-toned blend of grapes from California, the Yakima Valley and the Mosel in Germany. Full, bright citrus fruit flavors; scents of apple blossoms. Off-Dry • Tagaris 2001 Johannisberg Riesling ($7). Beautifully focused, extravagantly fruity; plush with crisp green-apple flavors and succulently sweet citrus. Still dry enough to enjoy with food. • Columbia Crest 2001 Johannisberg Riesling ($7). A fragrant nose mixes scents of fresh fruits and blossoms. Sweet and tart, ripe and round; a pleasing fatness turns up the flavor volume. • Geyser Peak 2001 Riesling ($9). California grapes, from coastal vineyards, create a ripe, succulent, sweet and fruity style, just slightly spritzy. More fat fruit, lower acids than Washington riesling. • Seven Hills 2001 Riesling ($10). Quality juice with a fragrant, fleshy mouthfeel, perfectly balanced. Plenty of fresh fruit flavor, plus some spice and acid that add zip to the finish. • Hogue 2001 Late Harvest Riesling ($12). Don't look for unctuous sweetness here. Plenty of acid, underpinning a generous core of peach/apricot fruit; the barest hint of honey. Sweet Dessert • Columbia 2001 "Cellarmaster's" Riesling ($7). Concentrated and beautifully balanced, with a smooth, mouthfilling richness. Finishes with a kiss of butterscotch. • Apex 2000 Late Harvest Riesling ($35, half bottle). A stunning achievement, dark and honeyed. Deep, penetrating flavors of apricot and peach nectar roll into a fabulous finish of tea and toffee.

Riesling inspires such passion among those who love it. Bonny Doon winemaker Randall Grahm calls riesling "the Cinderella grape variety" and makes four different versions, including one called "The Heart Has Its Rieslings."

Passion aside, riesling is one of a handful of white wines (chardonnay not among them) whose natural flavors seem to answer the challenge of changing food styles. As dishes become ever more spicy, and more savory, they become more difficult to pair with wine. Grahm calls it "a dysfunctional relationship — instead of a dialogue, you have two monologues." But he also believes that riesling is a bridge that can reconnect wine to food.

Perhaps that is why rieslings, especially dry and slightly sweet versions, are becoming fashionable again on restaurant wine lists. They offer flavor flexibility with everything from sushi to ahi tacos; they are lower in alcohol and purer in fruit expression than most other white wines; and they are rarely expensive.

In a restaurant you can at least hope the sommelier has made a good match, but elsewhere, buying riesling can involve some detective work. You can't always tell from the label whether the wine is dry, off-dry or sweet. Stroll down the riesling aisle and you'll find bottles labeled Johannisberg riesling, white riesling, dry riesling, late harvest riesling, late picked riesling and just plain riesling. Look to see if the label lists the residual sugar content, a common way to measure the degree of sweetness. Residual sugar (or RS) under 1 percent tastes dry. Between 1 and 4 percent indicates an off-dry (slightly sweet) wine that still matches well with sweet/spicy foods such as curry. Anything 4 percent or higher is best left for dessert. (If you are having food with your dessert wine, make sure that the wine is the sweeter of the two, or the flavors will turn bitter.) Another sweetness gauge is alcohol content. Above 12 percent and you probably have a dry wine. Below 10 percent and you can expect it to be quite sweet.

Just two decades ago, riesling accounted for 30 percent of all the wine grape plantings in Washington. Today it represents just under 13 percent of the state's total, though overall riesling acreage has grown from 1,280 to 2,200 acres. In California, by contrast, so much riesling has been ripped out that total plantings are down from 11,423 to just 2,049 acres. So now we're No. 1. Take that, California!

Paul Gregutt is the author of "Northwest Wines" and a freelance writer who regularly appears on the Wine pages of The Times' Wednesday Food section. His e-mail address is indelible@aol.com. Barry Wong is a Pacific Northwest magazine staff photographer.