Kallstadter Steinacker Riesling - 2022

Kallstadter Steinacker Riesling from the Rings winery grows on the coolest slope

The 2022 Kallstadter Steinacker Riesling from the Rings winery is a dry white wine from a VDP.Erste Lage in the Palatinate, grown on limestone and rugged rock. It spent ten months on the full lees, partly in steel tanks and partly in half-piece barrels, remaining puristic and upright throughout.

2022 Kallstadter Steinacker Riesling is a dry white wine from the VDP.Erste Lage Kallstadter Steinacker, the coolest vineyard belonging to the Rings winery. The site covers 151 hectares, lies between 160 and 240 meters above sea level, and has been documented since 1270. This makes the Steinacker older than its famous neighbor, the Saumagen. Rings cultivates about 4 hectares of it, and with 12.5 percent alcohol, this Riesling remains decidedly lean.

Puristic, citrusy, and almost unapproachable

At night, cool winds flow down from the Palatinate Forest into the Steinacker, and these cold hours maintain the tension in the wine.

On the nose, it is reserved, with apple, a touch of citrus, and delicate herbs, only opening up after a while in the glass. On the palate, it feels lean, taut, and salty, while the chalky and stony minerality stands in the foreground, almost unapproachable, with the fruit taking a secondary role.

The lime marl hardly stores any water, which is why the vines root deeply and produce few but concentrated grapes. The long finish features a fine bitterness that gives the wine structure and makes it seem more serious than its siblings.

For oysters, sole, and brown butter

Such a lean wine calls for dishes that are themselves low in fat and spice, but rich in salt or ocean character.

It is a classic pairing for freshly shucked oysters, steamed sole with lemon, or roasted cauliflower in brown butter, whose nuttiness complements the yeasty notes in the wine. The fine bitterness in the finish balances the quiet sweetness of shellfish and seafood. It is also a calm companion to raw fish with a little salt and oil.

It shows best at 10 to 11 degrees; if served too cold, it only reveals its acidity. A year or two in the cellar will do it good, just like the Saumagen Riesling GG from the neighboring Grosse Lage.

Ten months on the full lees in half-piece barrels

After spontaneous fermentation, the wine remains on its full lees—the sediment of dead yeast cells that collects at the bottom of the barrel.

Over the months, this yeast breaks down and releases substance into the wine, which provides texture and breadth on the palate. It does not make the wine sweeter or thicker, but gives it a creamy layer that makes its edgy minerality tolerable. This process takes ten months here.

Part of the wine matures in half-piece barrels, which are smaller than the large wooden barrels and allow the wine a little more air. The other part remains in steel tanks, which add nothing and protect the fruit. The yield is 4,200 liters per hectare, and it is bottled without fining. All the estate's site-specific wines can be found in the Rings winery hub.

2022 Kallstadter Steinacker Riesling – a white wine and its technical data

• Origin Germany
• Region Palatinate
• Winery Rings
• VDP.Erste Lage
• Grape variety Riesling
• 12.5% vol alcohol
• 0.4 g/l residual sugar
• 7.4 g/l acidity

Organic control number – DE-ÖKO-022 German Agriculture