Carl Ehrhard Riesling Spätlese Berg Rottland 2024

Weingut Carl Ehrhard was founded in 1815 and sits in Rüdesheim in the Rheingau, one of Germany's foremost Riesling districts, worked today by Carl and Petra Ehrhard as the fifth generation. This Spätlese comes from the Berg Rottland, a steep, celebrated south-facing vineyard above the Rhine whose slate and quartzite soils absorb the day's heat and radiate it back to the vines, aiding ripeness in this northerly climate while the river reflects extra light onto the slope. Spätlese denotes late-picked, riper grapes, and here the fruit is left with a touch of natural sweetness: at 8.5 percent alcohol, the low figure shows that fermentation was stopped with residual sugar still in the wine, giving a gently off-dry balance. The wine is made naturally, organically and without animal products; the slaty soils and cool conditions preserve the sharp acidity that offsets the sweetness and keeps the wine light and precise. It is pale and green-gold in the glass, with peach, apricot, lime and white flowers over a wet-stone minerality. The palate is off-dry but balanced, the residual sugar cut by racy acidity, finishing long and slaty. Serve at 8 to 10 degrees. Its sweetness and low alcohol suit spiced Asian food.