The emailed directions to a friend's Bethnal Green flat - which, by the way, looks out across a magnificent, Gherkin-studded city skyline for which, in a posher part of London, you'd pay millions - were clear and not inaccurate. "The lift is being renovated, so please climb the stairs to the top. On your way up, say hello to the loitering teenagers smoking pot."

Perhaps that line is what inspired the slightly unusual tasting notes thrown up by this small and informal tasting of German whites. "Is it meant to smell slightly like a stairwell or public toilet?" asked one person on sniffing her first maturing riesling. "It's very. . . industrial." Another insisted hers had the slightly sweet, slightly smoky, slightly grassy flavours of hash.

Then again, maybe it was just the wine. It doesn't seem to matter how much wine professionals bang on about the wonders of riesling - and joyously inhale the petrochemical aroma, more properly referred to as kerosene, that it gives off when it has acquired some age - it remains a startling grape to encounter for the first time. And not just the first time, either. Although I love its flavour - the mouth-shock of the acidity, the rapid flow of lime and then, perhaps, the interrogation of textured mineral and kerosene - I've always found riesling, in particular off-dry German riesling, really difficult to serve. I've lost count of the number of allegedly riesling-friendly dinners I've cooked that, being nothing of the sort, would derail even the most dogged of riesling drinkers.

The trick is to keep things simple. We liked the combination of smoked salmon with dill on part-rye caraway-seeded bread with our two favourite drier rieslings (we tested nine in all, from Oddbins, Majestic, Sainsbury's, Lea & Sandeman and even one brought in direct from Germany). The only ones we all liked were three from Majestic. The first, Margarethenhof Ayler Kupp Riesling Kabinett 2003 Mosel-Saar-Ruwer (£5.99), was elegant, fresh and primed for flight. The second, and I say this triumphantly because it was the stairwell riesling and took only a sip to win over everyone, was Trittenheimer Apotheke Riesling Hochgewachs 2000 Friedrich Wilhelm Gymnasium (£5.49). It had a peaty, keroseney nose, and a blooming grapey palate with a touch of honey, streaks of lime and fiercely refreshing acidity.

The other triumph was the discovery that tarte tatin, with its combination of caramel and acidic apples, is the perfect foil for sweeter yet still lithe and delicate rieslings - try Weller Lehnert's tingly but sweetish Piesporter Goldtröpfchen Riesling Spätlese 2002 (£5.99).

What do you recommend?

I enjoy the taste of wine, but the ones I like are getting increasingly strong. Can you suggest any full-flavoured wines that are not so high in alcohol?

Julie Pett

Some people regard this trend as a bonus: I once read a survey that said young women in Manchester select wine exclusively on the basis of its alcohol content — the higher, the better. But, like you, I find it rather wearing: drinking a wine that's 15% abv, rather than 12%, makes all the difference between feeling gently tipsy and not being able to get the key in the front door. Fermentation basically involves converting the sugar in grapes into alcohol, so for dry wine, the riper and sweeter the grape, the more alcoholic it will be. Hence wines from sun-soaked Australia and Argentina are often stronger than Old World ones.

As a general rule, try clarets, which usually come in at 12.5% or 13%, valpolicella, Rhône reds or even German whites (see left), which often dip as low as 8% abv because they're not fermented dry. Here are two gorgeous reds with moderate alcohol, plus a lovely summery white. Poliziano Rosso di Montepulciano 2002 (13.5% abv; £7.99, Booths; £8.99, Sainsbury's) is a solid, full-blooded Tuscan red with warming but not overpowering oak and throaty cherries. Domaine Clavel 'Les Catalognes' 2003 (13.5%; £6.49, Oddbins) is a real food wine (think sausages and lentils), smells intoxicating — of thyme, bay and tindery olive groves, as well as of red berry fruit — and tastes intensely savoury. Torres Vina Esmeralda 2003 (11%; (£5.99, Booths; £6.19, Oddbins; £5.53, Tesco; £5.99, Unwins) is an aromatic blend of gewürztraminer and muscat, just off-dry, floral, slightly tropical, refreshing and exceedingly moreish.