Clemens Busch - Riesling (Trocken/Dry), Mosel, Germany (2022)

TASTING NOTES

Aromas of mandarin and lime, with a delightful minerality. Dry, bright and juicy with an zippy finish. Grown in grey slate from multiple parcels in Marienburg including a mix of young and old vines up to 50-60 yrs old, vinified 60% in barrels. 20% of the juice sees malolactic fermentation. 

Clemens and Rita are firm believers that natural practices in the vines allow for the truest expression of terroir. Together with their youngest son Johannes, the Busch family maintains and manage the steep slopes of the famous Marienburg.

Pünderich lies essentially at the dividing line between the Middle and Lower Mosel, the wilder and more remote northern section of the Mosel river system. The geology here is unique, based on a volcanic formation hundreds of millions of years old, manifested in a long, undulating cliff face that is nothing short of epic.

With multiple slate profiles (blue, grey and red) and expositions varying throughout the area, Clemens identifies the different terroirs of the original hillside on his labels by their historical names: Fahrlay, Falkenlay, Rothenpfad, Felsterrasse, and Raffes. He further delineates his wines by their soil type, using an ingenious method: the color of the capsule on the bottles indicates the type of slate (blue, gray or red) that dominates the source from which each wine comes.

Most of the wines at the Busch estate are vinified dry, and they are rich, complex and often powerful. They age very beautifully, gaining in complexity and texture. However, the sweet and noble sweet wines from the estate are also impressive, ranking among the finest wines made anywhere on the Mosel.