Sybille Kuntz’s Riesling Spatlese is a complex and brilliant wine and an amazing advert for Mosel Riesling. The wine has fantastic texture and richness on the palate which is fleshy and intensely flavoured with green fruits, nectarine and honeysuckle. It is elegant, sophisticated and a joy to drink.
The Spätlese is picked late, like the name suggests, towards the end of harvest. After one or even several pre-picking passes the main harvest starts in the top site of Niederberg-Helden. It is steep, and the sun beats down on the mountain. Here we are working in steep slopes of up to 70% incline that descend south to the Moselle river. The boxes slide down with us on the slate floor from post to post, held by the knees of the harvesters. The boxes solely contain golden-yellow Riesling grapes, from which the best dry Riesling, the Spätlese, is made.
Sybille took over her family estate in the early 1980’s. She had opened a wine shop a few years earlier and realised that her parent’s wine was poor compared to others in the region. She thought she could do better and was right! Sybille now farms the 45 acre estate with her husband Markus along strict biodynamic principals. The wines have a complexity, freshness and modern appearance that puts them amongst the best in the region.
