Weingut Knipser – Riesling Kalkmergel – [VDP]
The Knipser Riesling Kalkmergel 2021 beautifully displays the minerality of its soil, limestone layers in the Pfalz. This cuvée of the finest Riesling wines, mostly of Spätlese quality, reveals its delicate aroma of ripe stone fruit, such as peaches and mirabelle plums, accompanied by pink grapefruit. On the palate, the fruit continues, underlaid with a fine creaminess. In addition, there is a subtle mineral scent component of flint and delicate notes of fully ripe yellow apples. Long and persistent on the finish.
Grown in the vineyards around Laumersheim, it showcases what Riesling from the Pfalz is capable of. Weingut Knisper first released this wine with the 2011 vintage, and it quickly secured a firm place in the front ranks of Knisper wines. The vines grow on limestone soils, making them somewhat more robust. The wine is usually not released for sale until years after the harvest, to show even impatient wine lovers what ripeness can mean for Riesling.
Winemaking – Weingut Knipser
The vines for this Riesling grow in the best vineyards around Laumersheim, characterized by calcareous marl rock. This limestone originated from deposits of calcareous algae that formed reefs in a tropical sea during the Miocene; it is found in the subsoil of Großkarlbacher Burgweg, Laumersheimer Kirschgarten, Laumersheimer Steinbuckel, and Dirmsteiner Mandelpfad. These sites are ideal for all grape varieties that thrive on body and benefit from well-buffered acidity.
The selective hand harvest of the Riesling grapes in autumn usually takes place in several passes to ensure optimally ripe fruit. In the winery, all grapes are destemmed, i.e., separated from their stems. The resulting mash is gently pressed in a tank press. Fermentation takes place partly temperature-controlled below 20° C in stainless steel tanks, which preserves fruitiness and varietal typicity, and partly in large wooden barrels. Aging on the fine lees until bottling in autumn 2022 takes place 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 Pfalz