Riesling Rauenthaler Baiken 1G Erste Lage 2024

The Riesling Rauenthaler Baiken 1G Erste Lage 2024 is a dry Rheingau wine at 12.0 % vol., built on tension rather than sheer weight. The nose releases lemon zest, apple and quince, underpinned by a deep, earthy minerality of striking precision. An honest, complex wine that needs no heavy use of oak.

The Rauenthaler Baiken is one of the most distinctive sites in the eastern Rheingau. The vines grow at 190 to 200 metres above sea level on a steep southwest-facing slope, with a gradient of over 60 percent ensuring strong sun exposure. Because the site sits in a basin surrounded by forest, it also benefits from a cooling thermal effect. The soil is sparse and shaped by phyllite slate, though several nearby water veins keep the vines well supplied with water.

100 % Riesling. The estate farms its 21 hectares according to Demeter guidelines, certified since 2009. In the cellar, intervention is kept to a minimum: spontaneous fermentation, no fining, minimal use of sulphur. Peter Bernhard Kühn, who has run the estate together with Viktoria since 2012 as the twelfth generation, previously worked in Alsace and with Burgundy producers; the wines' contours have sharpened ever since.

Fresh, saline minerality and a supporting acidity define the wine's pull across the palate. It remains purist and deep, with a cool, flowing drinkability. At present it still feels a touch young, and its ageing potential is considerable. At the table, it shows off its precise, linear character.

Jacobus Kühn founded the estate in 1786 in Oestrich-Winkel, and it has remained in family hands ever since. Almost the entire vineyard area is planted with Riesling. The Demeter logo on the label denotes biodynamic cultivation, long considered an unconventional path in the Rheingau. The Baiken is classified as Erste Lage (grand cru).