Riesling Riede Steiner Schreck "This is not a love song" 2019

A Riesling that demands patience. Freshly opened, the nose remains exceedingly discreet, yet with air in the glass it unfolds in complex layers: verbena, white blossoms, and roses layered over lemon, mandarin, mirabelle plum, and crisp peach, underpinned by lanolin and a spicy nuance spanning aniseed, crushed stone, and pepper.

Riede Steiner Schreck sits at around 320 metres above sea level and ranks among the steepest vineyard sites in the Kremstal. The subsoil is dominated by Gföhl gneiss and granite. Markus and Heideline Lang cultivate these parcels of 80-year-old vines under Demeter certification; the winery is located in Stein an der Donau.

Riesling, harvested on 8 September 2019 at an equivalent of 11.5% ABV. Pressed over two days using a self-engineered 100-ton tree press under entirely reductive conditions; subsequently, the juice is deliberately allowed time to brown. Fermentation begins spontaneously, with 3 to 5% destemmed whole berries undergoing intracellular fermentation, repeatedly re-energising the process at the cellar’s constant 9 °C. This is followed by two and a half years on the full lees in a 1,000-litre Bordeaux-style stoneware amphora, which facilitates micro-oxygenation comparable to a large wooden cask. Bottled unfiltered with a minimal sulphur addition, at 0 g/l residual sugar and 8.0 g/l total acidity.

Salty, fresh, crystalline, and clear, initially driven by taut acidity and a distinct carbonic spritz that persists despite the extended ageing before gently subsiding over time. What begins tight and focused becomes silkier, juicier, and more piquant. The finish is long, electrifying, and powerful yet undeniably elegant, brimming with mouth-watering salinity.

Demeter-certified on the label. Aged inside a bombproof World War II tunnel carved deep into the mountain's gneiss rock. Markus Lang spent 25 years designing aircraft for Airbus and the US Air Force before inheriting a neglected vineyard; the tree press is his own engineering design. The 2.5-hectare estate yields an annual production of just 12,000 bottles.