Ried Grassnitzberg Riff Sauvignon Blanc, Erste STK Lage 2020 1500ml Magnum

Wine Description for Ried Grassnitzberg Riff Sauvignon Blanc Erste STK Lage 2020 1500ml Magnum by Tement

Colour & Appearance

Rich straw yellow with vibrant green reflections – a wine that already promises depth and substance in the glass.

Nose

The nose opens with a slightly smoky top note, behind which ripe apricots and juicy nectarines unfold. Citrus notes of lemon blossom and pink grapefruit zest lend the wine its characteristic freshness impulse, whilst lemon balm, chervil and blackcurrant leaves weave in a fine herbal-spicy depth. Accessible and expressive, without the cool restraint of the Grand STK sites.

Palate

On the palate, a vibrant, invigorating wine unfolds, oscillating between herbal-green freshness and juicy yellow-fruit creaminess. A precise, lively acidity spine drives the wine forward and lends it cool elegance despite its generosity. Fine extract and delicate saline minerality underscore the character of the sparse weathered soil.

Finish

The finish is rapid and focused – delicately saline, with a pleasantly bitter phenolic quality that culminates in a fruity-cool, long finish. A wine that hasn’t yet fully spent its powder and will benefit considerably from several years of bottle age.

Terroir & Origin

The Grassnitzberg is a sheltered basin vineyard site in South Styria at 300–420 metres elevation with sandy-loamy weathered soils. As the coolest vineyard site in Tement’s portfolio – cooler than Zieregg, Blatsch or Wielitschberg – it consistently produces acidity-driven, taut wines with high drinking pleasure. The vines were already planted in the 1950s by founder Josef Tement – it is the estate’s oldest vineyard.

Grape Variety & Vinification

Sauvignon Blanc, selectively hand-harvested. Following skin contact, the wine matured for 24 months in large wooden vessels on fine lees – a long, patient élevage that shapes complexity and structure without masking the varietal aromatics. Bottled as a Magnum (1500 ml), this wine develops with particular harmony.

Food Pairing Suggestions

Ideal with fennel salad and blood oranges with capers and Taggiasca olives, with elegant gilt-head bream with young leeks, pea purée and verveine butter or with rustic pork shoulder with a ragout of young artichokes, peas and mint.

Special Features

The Magnum bottling underscores this wine’s claim to longevity. Classified as a Erste STK Lage, Grassnitzberg Riff represents the precise, terroir-true signature of the Tement estate – more accessible than the Grand sites, but with unmistakable ageing potential. A wine for connoisseurs who wish to be rewarded by patience.