Nikolaihof Klause Riesling 2016
A fascinating jewel from Nikolaihof: a wine of stone and fruit with abundant and constantly renewed aromas. It is a concentrate of soil and energy, of insolent youth.
Grape Varietals & Region: This single-plot Riesling comes from an approximately 25-year-old vine planted on the “Steiner Gaisberg”. On this high altitude terroir (between 350 and 400 meters) laid out in terraces, the soils are quite thin (50 centimeters maximum) and stony. The root system of the vine quickly penetrates into a crystalline subsoil of paragneiss, which will give the wine this intensely mineral dimension, perfectly intertwined with the crunch of the fruit and an irresistible sensation of floral and honeyed voluptuousness.
Taste Profile: At first nose, it is the stony nature of the soil which is expressed, with notes of pumice, cold ash and oil. A minerality quickly overtaken by the delicious brightness of the fruit, around apricot, quince paste, yellow peach and pineapple, but also by an irresistible sensation of sweetness and floral voluptuousness: we think of honey candies, flower pistils loaded with pollen, we think of acacia, violet and lavender, we think of rose fields near Grasse (as surprising as that may seem!), to bees busy foraging in lush gardens with rare species.
Winemaking Process: This Riesling Klause remained in large casks for 4 years, before spending 3 additional years in bottle
