Grans-Fassian Mineralschiefer Trocken 2020

Grans-Fassian is based in Leiwen, one of Germany's oldest wine towns, and has been run by the same family for four centuries and thirteen generations. Mineralschiefer, meaning mineral slate, takes its name from the steep blue Devonian slate slopes of the Mosel that give the wine its identity. Slate is the key here: the dark stone stores the day's heat and radiates it back to the vines on cool nights, helping Riesling ripen fully at high latitude while the poor, stony soil keeps yields low and drives a flinty, smoky minerality straight into the glass. This is a Trocken, fermented fully dry so the fruit and acidity carry the wine rather than any residual sugar. Fermentation is cool and clean to preserve the grape's delicate aromatics. The wine is pale with green glints. The nose leads on sharp citrus and green apple with white peach and a distinct wet-stone, smoky note, and the palate is light bodied and razor sharp, its high acidity balanced by a gentle texture through a long, saline finish. Serve well chilled at 8 to 10 degrees in a tall white glass. Its acidity and cool fruit make it a fine match for delicate white fish and a good foil for lightly spiced Asian dishes.