Burg Layer Riesling Schlossberg 1G 2023

Pure Riesling, without frills: this Grand Cru relies on acidity and precision rather than richness. At 12.5% ABV and vinified dry, it is filigree and elegant on the nose, youthfully taut on the palate. A wine that will benefit from further bottle age and will then unfold more broadly.

The VDP Grand Cru vineyard Burg Layer Schlossberg covers 1.3 hectares. Its heavily weathered red slate soil lends the wine a cool, smoky signature that carries from the first nose through to the finish. Schlossgut Diel is located on the Burg Layen hill near Rümmelsheim on the Nahe; Caroline Diel runs the VDP estate in its seventh generation, spanning 26 hectares, 65 percent of which is planted to Riesling.

Pure varietal Riesling from selective hand harvest. The grapes are pressed gently, with fermentation carried out by wild yeasts. Fermentation and ageing take place in multi-year-old large oak casks made from local oak forests.

Cool slate notes and smoky nuances come first, joined by lime and green apple; with exposure to air, delicate floral notes and herbal nuances emerge. On the palate, the acidity is pleasantly assertive at this young stage, carried by fresh citrus fruit and apple. A long-distance runner, taut and clearly defined.

Johann Peter Diel acquired the Burg Layen estate in 1802 from Baron Dalberg; once a mixed farming operation, it is today a pure wine estate. Caroline Diel studied oenology in Geisenheim, took over the cellar in 2006, and has run the estate since 2017 together with her husband Sylvain and her brother Victor. Falstaff, Feinschmecker and the FAZ named her Winemaker of the Year. The conversion to organic viticulture is underway.