Riesling Marienburg Grosse Lage “Felsterrasse” 2016 – Clemens Busch

This wine comes from vines more than 90 years old from the Pündericher Marienburg Felsterrasse. The exposed site is characterized by grey-blue slate. It is considered Clemens Busch's favorite parcel. His wines are all fermented spontaneously and slowly and mature for at least two years in large barrels.

medium straw yellow

Already on the nose, the wine from the Felsterrasse shows itself to be one of the most impressive Rieslings from the already very high-class 2016 collection. On the nose, this wine provides a very precise foreshadowing of what awaits you on the palate - pure, racy minerality, depth, pressure and concentration with maximum brightness and freshness. Notes of citrus fruits, pome fruits and stone fruits together with stone and herbs show up, but also notes of sugar biscuits and beeswax, which give the Riesling an additional dimension.

This Busch wine shines with great depth and precision, although it is at an alcohol level that sounds more like Mittelmosel than Terrassenmosel. It plays loose and light, yet distinctive and powerful on stage, and does so with clear and ripe acidity that has gone through a natural malolactic fermentation this year. The resulting lactic acid naturally shows itself to be a bit more defensive and creamy than the harsher malic acid, but this does the wine good and fits perfectly into the elegant overall picture. Again, pome fruit, stone fruit and citrus notes combine with slate spice and dry herb, but are complemented by salinity and positively buoyed by a vibrant minerality that carries this Moselaner into a never-ending finish. This is simply a great Riesling.