Riesling Marienburg Grosses Gewächs 2024

The Riesling Marienburg Grosses Gewächs 2024 by Clemens Busch is a dry Mosel Riesling from grey slate, dark and cool in structure, calm and concentrated in the glass. Nutty notes of marzipan, cherry stones, peach kernels and almonds carry an intense depth of spice. The compact, ripe fruit of peach and mirabelle plum stays juicy without ever displacing the coolness.

The Marienburg is the Busch family's home vineyard, seen from the estate on the opposite bank of the Mosel. The steep site varies from south to southeast exposure and is home to all three slate colours found on the estate: red, blue and grey. Below the monastery, grey slate dominates. Of the estate's 20 hectares of steep vineyards, 11 lie within the Marienburg; the oldest vines root as deep as eight metres into the rock.

Riesling, made in the traditional Mosel style. In the cellar, 80 percent of the wines ferment spontaneously in centuries-old 1000-litre oak casks, without cultured yeasts, without enzymes, without fining, followed by extended ageing on the fine lees. The residual sugar is barely perceptible; the wine is dry at 12.0% ABV.

The wine grips: firm, clearly structured, almost drying through astringency and phenolics marked by bitterness. The high, well-integrated acidity forms the taut backbone, stimulates salivation and keeps the bitter notes in check. Retronasally, the fruit recedes and herbs take over: clove, white pepper, allspice, fennel seed, aniseed, fresh fennel and pea shoots. The smoky, cool slate profile emerges, retreats and returns. The finish is long and invigorating.

Clemens Busch stopped using herbicides in 1976 and has farmed biodynamically since 1986. The capsule colour reveals the soil: red, grey or blue. Today he runs the estate in Pünderich together with his wife Rita and son Johannes.