Battenfeld Spanier Eisquell Riesling Trocken 2023

Eisquell is a dry Riesling from Battenfeld Spanier, the Rheinhessen estate run by Hans Oliver Spanier and based in Höhen-Sülzen. Rheinhessen sits in a relatively warm, dry corner of German wine country, and the estate farms organically across sites with limestone and clay soils. That calcareous base is the key to the wine, giving Riesling firm acidity and a stony, mineral drive that carries the fruit. The grapes are picked for a fully dry, trocken style, fermented and then aged on the fine lees. Riesling holds its aromatics without any oak, so the lees ageing is used to add texture and a subtle savoury depth through slow autolysis rather than to change the flavour. Malolactic fermentation is avoided, which keeps the natural malic acidity sharp and the wine tense. The colour is pale with a green tint. The nose is precise, with lemon, green apple and white peach lifted by white flowers and a hint of ginger. The palate is bone dry, high in acid and mineral, closing on a saline, citrus finish. Serve at 8 to 10 degrees.