Riesling 2022

Wine Description for Riesling 2022 by Bencze Birtók

Colour & Appearance

Distinctly cloudy yellow with cream-coloured reflexes – an unfiltered, natural Riesling that reveals its provenance and winemaking approach right in the glass.

Nose

Fascinatingly unconventional: seaweed, wine yeast and sea salt meet dry biscuits and vineyard peach. This aromatic palette is pure umami tension – precise, profound and with a freshness you wouldn’t expect from a wine from the hot 2022 vintage. Here, terroir speaks far more clearly than the grape variety.

Palate

The nose doesn’t overpromise: the wine flows across the tongue with electrifying freshness, the yeasty texture lends body and substance, whilst a grippy tannin – likely from extended skin contact – provides structure. Citrus and apple dance around this phenolic spice. This is no crowd-pleasing Riesling, but a food wine with character and guaranteed salivation.

Finish

Salty-mineral with lingering freshness and a bitterness that invites the next bite. The wine doesn’t disappear; it remains present.

Terroir & Origin

From Lake Balaton, Hungary’s largest lake, which acts as a climatic moderator. The volcanic soils and cooling lake breezes enable aromatic freshness despite continental heat. Bencze Birtók belongs to the new generation of winemakers liberating Hungary’s wine scene from its industrial past.

Grape Variety & Vinification

Riesling, evidently vinified with skin contact, spontaneously fermented and bottled unfiltered. At just 11% alcohol, a light-footed representative that prioritises complexity over concentration.

Food Pairing Suggestions

This wine cries out for umami: oysters, mussels, smoked fish, sushi or tempura. Also a revelation with pork lard on bread, goat’s cheese or spicy poultry.

Special Features

An orange wine approach to Riesling – bold, polarising and utterly contemporary. Anyone who knows Riesling only as an ethereal, fruity solo player will be taught otherwise here.