Riesling Riede Steiner Schreck „This is not a love song“ 2020

Wine Description for Riesling Riede Steiner Schreck „This is not a love song“ 2020 by HM Lang

Colour & Appearance

Pale, clear golden yellow – luminous and transparent, with a purity that already hints at the crystalline nature of this wine.

Nose

Subtle, yet of striking precision: The nose opens with gooseberries, yellow citrus fruits and juicy mirabelle plums, underpinned by crushed stone and a characteristic hint of verbena, which returns year after year. Not an aromatic loudspeaker, but a wine that whispers – and thereby has all the more to say.

Palate

On the palate, the true character of this extraordinary Riesling unfolds: piquant, saline, with a texture reminiscent of the finest wet-sanded paper – that characteristic amphora fineness that neither wood nor steel can produce. Graphite, apple and delicate herbal notes combine into a crystal-clear structure that, despite forceful acidity, possesses surprising sensuousness. A subtle tannin gives the wine backbone without breaking its elegance.

Finish

Long-lasting, with an electrifying minerality that lingers for ages. The wine demands time – over several days in an open glass it becomes increasingly silky and elegant, without ever losing its tension. A Riesling that rewards patience.

Terroir & Origin

The vineyard site Steiner Schreck in the Kremstal lies at around 320 metres elevation and ranks among the steepest sites in the region. The subsoil of Gföller gneiss and granite shapes the wine with that cutting minerality and saline tension that characterises great Riesling terroirs. Viticulture is conducted according to Demeter standards.

Grape Variety & Vinification

Riesling from 80-year-old vines, harvested on 15 September 2020. The must was pressed extremely slowly and reductively over two days on a custom-designed 100-tonne wooden press, then deliberately subjected to controlled oxidation. Spontaneous fermentation with 5–6% destemmed berries, which ferment intracellularly (in the manner of carbonic maceration), to repeatedly trigger the fermentation process at constant 9 °C in the cellar. Maturation over two and a half years on full lees in a Bordeaux-style 1,000-litre stoneware amphora. Unfiltered, bottled with 0 g/l residual sugar and 8.5 g/l total acidity.

Food Pairing Suggestions

Ideal with millet risotto with golden beetroot and fennel flowers, with char seared on the skin with whey, radish and elderflower or with alpine caviar with potatoes, crème fraîche and wild herb salad. Cuisine that prioritises precision and naturalness over opulence – much like this wine.

Special Characteristics

A consistently artisanal unique creation: The name is the programme – not a pleasing, flattering wine, but a Riesling with character and individuality. Winemaker HM Lang pursues a radical philosophy of minimal intervention and maximum terroir expression. It is recommended to serve it in a Burgundy glass and to allow it time in the glass.