The 2018 Nierstein Pettenthal Riesling "GG" is deep and flinty on the excitingly complex, precise and crunchy nose that offers lemon zest and slatey aromas. Silky and round but very intense and elegant on the palate, this is a rich and full-bodied but highly finessed and balanced Riesling with a crystalline structure and lingering salinity. Very long, intense and powerful but always fine. Great wine. Tasted at the domaine in March 2020.

Tangerine peel, smoky Madagascar peppercorns, orange blossom and pit-inflected white peach inform a forceful nose. Juicy tangerine and lime serve for animation on a seductively silken palate lent invigoration by zesty citrus peel and tangy apple skin. The seriously sustained finish is admirably transparent to smoky, peppery, zesty, stony and alkaline notes whose impingements set one’s tongue tingling and sizzling, but not from any heat, nor without sufficient refreshing juiciness to ward off austerity.

On the nose still quite reductive, but not with the polarising funky pungency which out-of-control ambient yeasts can produce, but instead a fresh green-herbal expression. The palate follows suit with a cool and crunchy presentation of herbal and vegetal flavours, but leaving enough room for flinty minerality to add value. Well-preserved acidity adds further edge and finesse. (MS)