WINE OF THE WEEK: Schieferkopf Riesling Trocken-Sec 2023, Baden, Germany

£13.95–£14, Stone, Vine and Sun, Hic!

I was going to keep this dry Riesling under wraps until more stockists had moved on to the 2023 vintage, but as many of us have stepped into summer this week, however briefly, and it’s such a perfect wine for sunny, warm weather, I’m going ahead.

This comes from a warm vintage, but it’s still racy, chiselled and crackling with energy, sprinkling lemon, lime, quince, honeysuckle and spice on to stony, rock-pool minerality. There’s a drizzle of honey, too, but the wine remains deliciously crisp and dry (aka trocken or sec).

It comes from Baden in the southwest, the warmest part of Germany, and the soils are critical, as they always are with Riesling. Here, granitic and arkose sandy soils sit on granitic subsoils.

The grapes are handpicked, gently pressed and vinified in stainless steel and the wine is then aged for a year on its lees.

The man behind Schieferkopf, perhaps surprisingly, isn't German but French: Michel Chapoutier of the Rhône. But it’s not so surprising when you know that he also produces wine in Roussillon, Alsace, the Douro and Victoria, Australia and that he is fond of saying that there are no bad terroirs, only misunderstood ones.

This is a white wine to drink as an aperitif, or with fish and seafood, including mildly spiced southeast Asian fish dishes, salads, charcuterie and dishes with capers, green olives or sundried tomatoes. 12%. Empty bottle weight: 453g.

Schieferkopf Riesling Trocken-Sec 2023, Baden, Germany

£13.95, Stone, Vine and Sun, £14, Hic!; other retailers have 2022, which I haven't tasted but I would buy it if I saw it

#wine #Germany #Riesling #wineandfood #winepairing #white