Riesling Tradition Brut – 2022

Riesling Tradition Brut from Griesel Sekt: Between Quince and Jasmine

The 2022 Riesling Tradition Brut from Griesel Sekt is a grower's sparkling wine made from pure Riesling, grown on the Hessische Bergstraße and aged on the fine lees for twenty months. Riesling is a rare choice for sparkling wine, but on the Bergstraße, it is the obvious one.

Riesling Tradition Brut 2022 is the Riesling sparkling wine from Griesel Sekt in Bensheim, where the Hessische Bergstraße—the smallest of the thirteen German wine-growing regions—occupies little more than a narrow strip between the Rhine plain and the Odenwald. "Tradition" is the name of their entry-level line, and it already requires at least twenty months of aging on the lees.

Quince and Jasmine over fresh brioche

The aroma opens with green apple and ripe quince, followed by candied kumquats, with a trace of jasmine floating above.

On the palate, the fine perlage hits first, cushioning rather than stinging. Then the acidity carries the flavors further, accompanied by a slightly tart spiciness from the oak influence. What remains is an invigorating freshness, underscored by that note of brioche left behind by the long months in the cellar.

A tarte flambée with bacon and onions pairs well with it, as does baked plaice with remoulade, and a young local Handkäse cheese finds in it a fitting counterpart. With 3 grams of residual sugar per liter, it lacks any cushion of sweetness, which is why it handles acidity and fat equally well.

Why Riesling is rarely used in sparkling wine

German grower sparkling wine is usually made from Burgundy varieties, whose must has a rounder structure. The carbonation from the second fermentation sharpens existing acidity anyway. Riesling is considered the more difficult variety in this regard.

On the Bergstraße, the situation is reversed, as Riesling is the lead variety here. On soils of decomposed granite—barren, sandy, and permeable—it finds exactly the leanness it needs. The cool draft from the Odenwald keeps the nights fresh, which the 2022 vintage needed after a hot, dry summer.

It was harvested by hand in September 2022 and subsequently pressed so gently that only about half of the juice runs out of the berries, as anything further would introduce tannins and wax.

Twenty months is a lot for an entry-level wine

In the cellar, the musts ferment spontaneously and then undergo malolactic fermentation, during which the sharp malic acid is converted into milder lactic acid. For Riesling, this step is not a given, as many winemakers intentionally preserve its malic acid.

For the maturation process, Rachele Crosara combines large and small barrels made of steel and wood. One-tenth base wine from previous vintages is added, giving the sparkling wine a depth that a single year would not provide. On August 5, 2023, the wine was bottled as turbid as the tank allowed, along with the *tirage* that initiates the second fermentation.

After that, it spent twenty months on the fine lees—a standard that many houses only grant their premium lines, but which defines the entry-level here. The sparkling wine went on sale at the end of March 2025. Alongside it is the Blanc de Blancs from the same line, the Blanc de Noirs Tradition shows the same maturation period with red grapes, and everything else that bubbles can be found among our sparkling wines.