Steiner Riesling 17-22

A Riesling that gets by without showy fruit. The nose shows delicate flor yeast, roasted nuts and almonds and the scent of fresh yeasted pastry, alongside herbal chamomile and pome fruit reminiscent of green and yellow apple. A crumbly aromatic profile, carried by 10.5% vol.: tempo rather than weight.

The vines stand on the Roter Hang near Nierstein in Rheinhessen, on the red-brown clay slate of the Rotliegend, which gives the wines an earthy, almost saline note. The Schätzel family has farmed its plots there since 1350 and still vinifies today in the same vaulted cellars. Since 2008, Kai Schätzel has worked with organic and biodynamic elements, slowing ripening and guiding the slopes toward a new balance through dry farming.

Pure Riesling, harvested according to the estate's own golden cut principle: around 90 to 100 days after flowering, in several passes, right at the moment the colour shifts from green to golden yellow. The grapes are foot-trodden, left on the skins for a week and then pressed. Usually without prior settling, the must flows by gravity into large oak casks and half-casks, ferments spontaneously and stays on full lees until bottling. For the 17-22, the lots from the 2017 to 2022 vintages matured separately in half-casks before being combined in a single 5000-litre cask. Half was bottled in autumn, while the other remains as the solera mother and is topped up with reserves from the 2023 vintage.

The entry is silky and creamy, with a juicy richness. The acidity stretches bright and wide; underpinned by fine lees, the wine feels rich in texture, plush and cloud-soft. The vertical acid spine gives it its texture, its lightness and its brisk tempo. An ethereal, cool finish with long persistence.

Bagna cauda, sashimi of oily fish such as mackerel or sardines and Szeged goulash.

Aged reductively under flor and shielded from oxygen, unfiltered, unfined and bottled without added sulphur. The estate has been Demeter-certified since 2023 and a VDP member since 2016.