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Tasting note
The red slate speaks here with an unusually clear voice. Schlossgut Diel in Burg Layen belongs to the elite of the Nahe, and Caroline Diel – Winemaker of the Year for Falstaff, Feinschmecker and FAZ – knows how to let each vineyard site retain its own language. While the Pittermännchen yields filigree, chalky Rieslings from grey Devonian slate, this Erste Gewächs comes from a different, smokier register: angular, cool, with that tension which makes young German Rieslings so irresistible – and so demanding of patience.
- Colour & appearance
- Pale golden yellow with distinct green reflections – youth you can see.
- Nose
- Exceedingly fine-boned and elegant: cool slate notes, smoky hints, accompanied by lime and green apple. With air, delicate floral and herbal nuances join in – a bouquet that opens only gradually.
- Palate
- The acidity provokes pleasantly, while fresh citrus and apple fruit carries the whole. Riesling in its purest form, tightly drawn, backed by the wet-stone coolness of the slate. A long-distance runner that will clearly benefit from bottle ageing.
- Finish
- Long, salty-mineral, with lingering citrus fruit and a smoky depth that clings to the palate for a long time.
- Terroir & origin
- The VDP. Erste Lage Burg Layer Schlossberg covers just 1.3 hectares on heavily weathered red slate. At Burg Layen, Schlossgut Diel cultivates three geologically entirely different vineyard sites – slate, gravelly loam, iron-rich loam – which were documented as first-class as early as 1901, long before the VDP system.
- Grape variety & vinification
- Pure Riesling, vinified dry at 12.5% vol. Gentle pressing, fermentation and ageing with natural yeasts in seasoned wooden casks (Stück) made from local oak – the estate’s simple, unadorned signature.
- Food recommendations
- Substantial classics are the order of the day here: pan-fried pike-perch with herb butter, Arctic char on fennel vegetables, stuffed quail or a hearty roast pork with crispy crackling. Also a fine combination with mature Comté.
- Special features
- The rare combination of red slate and a vineyard size of just 1.3 hectares makes this wine a small, idiosyncratic chapter in the Diel portfolio – slaty, smoky, cooler in tone than the estate’s fruity Goldloch wines.
