Knipser Winery – Riesling Kalkmergel – [VDP]
The Knipser Riesling Kalkmergel 2021 beautifully showcases the minerality of its soil, limestone sites in the Palatinate. This cuvée of the finest Riesling wines, mostly of Spätlese quality, reveals a delicate aroma of ripe stone fruit, such as peach and mirabelle plums, joined by pink grapefruit. On the palate, the fruit continues, underlined by a fine melt. This is complemented by a subtle mineral aromatic component of flint and understated notes of fully ripe yellow apples. Long and persistent on the finish.
Grown in the vineyards around Laumersheim, it demonstrates what Palatinate Riesling is capable of. Knipser Winery first released this wine with the 2011 vintage, and it quickly secured a firm place in the front ranks of Knipser wines. The vines grow on limestone soils, giving them a bit more power. The wine is usually released for sale only years after the harvest to show even impatient wine lovers what maturity can mean for a Riesling.
Winemaking – Knipser Winery
The vines for this Riesling grow in the best vineyards characterized by limestone marl around Laumersheim. This limestone was formed from deposits of calcareous algae that created reefs in a tropical sea during the Miocene; it is found in the subsoil of the Großkarlbacher Burgweg, Laumersheimer Kirschgarten, Laumersheimer Steinbuckel, and Dirmsteiner Mandelpfad sites. These locations are ideal for all grape varieties that rely on body and benefit from well-buffered acidity.
The selective hand-harvesting of the Riesling grapes in autumn usually takes place in several passes to ensure the harvest of optimally ripe grapes. At the winery, all grapes are destemmed, meaning they are separated from the stems. The resulting mash is gently pressed in a tank press. Fermentation takes place partly under temperature control below 20° C in stainless steel tanks, which preserves fruitiness while maintaining varietal typicity, and partly in large wooden barrels. Aging on the fine lees until bottling in autumn 2022 occurs half in steel tanks and half in traditional wooden barrels such as Halbstück and Anderthalbstück.
Riesling Kalkmergel – a wine and its values
- 100% Riesling
- 12.5% vol. alcohol
- 8.3 g/l acidity
- 3.8 g/l residual sugar
- Origin Germany
- Growing region Palatinate