Schieferkopf Riesling Baden 2024

Schieferkopf is the German venture of Michel Chapoutier and friends, set up just across the Rhine to make Riesling from Baden, a warm and sunny region in southwest Germany. The name means slate head, and the vines sit on the slate soils that define the wine: these stones drain quickly, warm early and give Riesling its taut, mineral character and its typical faintly smoky edge. Baden's relative warmth ripens the grape fully, while cool nights and the slate hold on to the bracing acidity that carries the wine. This is a dry style, fermented and aged in stainless steel to keep the fruit clean and precise, with no oak to blur the aromatics. The absence of malolactic fermentation preserves the sharp, citrus-driven acidity that defines young Riesling. The colour is pale with green tints. The nose is bright and floral, with lime, green apple and white peach over white flowers and a wet-stone minerality. The palate is dry, light and tightly wound, the citrus fruit driven by a firm acidity to a long, saline finish. Serve well chilled at 8 to 10 degrees. It suits shellfish, white fish and lightly spiced dishes.