Riesling "vom roten Schiefer" 2023 6000ml

A dry Mosel Riesling with smoky depth and a slender frame. At 11.0% vol. it remains light-footed without ever turning thin: smoky spice, ripe lemon and fresh herbs define it. The 6000 ml format slows its ageing and extends its life.

The grapes come from the steep slopes of the Pündericher Marienburg on the Mosel, where Clemens Busch farms eleven of his twenty hectares. Three colours of slate structure the slope: red, grey and blue. The red slate is the rarest and gives the Riesling its smoky depth. The estate has forgone herbicides since 1976 and has worked biodynamically since 1986. The ungrafted, own-rooted vines reach up to eight metres deep into the rock, finding water there when summer turns dry.

100% Riesling. The must ferments spontaneously, 80 percent of it in century-old 1000-litre wooden casks, some of them built in the workshop of Rita's father. Cultured yeasts, enzymes and fining are avoided, and some fermentations stretch over more than a year. The long ageing on fine lees builds the structure.

Juicy and dense, carried by crisp acidity and a saline, stony minerality. The wine stays dry through to a long, smoky-lingering finish.

Pan-fried char and seared scallops, light poultry with herb sauce, chicken curry and mildly spiced Asian dishes, as well as eel and shellfish.

The capsule colour reveals the soil, with red signalling the red slate. Clemens Busch runs the estate in its seventh generation, today together with Rita and Johannes Busch. The estate's wines feature on the lists of five three-star restaurants. Bottled in the 6000 ml Methuselah format.