2023 Kuentz-Bas, Riesling, Tradition, Alsace, France.
The latest basic Riesling from Kuentz-Bas is a pale gold gem of a wine with lovely aromatics, a dry crisp palate and just enough generosity to please the crowd with lime, apple, mango and quince fruits, as well as hints of white flowers, chamomile, verbena, French soap, Exotic spice, wet rock and bitter almond notes. Fresh and lively, this 2023 Riesling has an easy grace and low alcohol refreshing quality with a lighter frame, making it good with starter courses and poultry dishes. Kuentz-Bas has moved in biodynamics for most of the estate bottlings and this Riesling Tradition comes from mature, up to 45 year old vines, set on loess, silt and limestone soils. The winery employs a whole cluster pressing of the grapes, slowly (generally 4-6 hours) in a pneumatic press, then the must is chilled to 52° F while the heavy lees settle. A slow fermentation takes place in oak foudres, over 100 years old, and aged on the fine lees and racked in the springtime, according to the cycles of the moon, before bottling.
Now run by Laure and Jean-Baptiste Adam, Maison Kuentz-Bas, imported by famed Berkeley legend Kermit Lynch, was first founded by the Kuentz family in 1795, and the domaine as it is know today was through the marriage of the Kuentz and Bas families in 1895. The estate, asLynch notes, is nestled in the town of Husseren-les-Châteaux, it sits at one of the highest points in Alsace, and the vineyards stretch out from the village over an area of ten hectares. There’s been more than two hundred years of tradition and vineyard pedigree at Kuentz-Bas and that has made these wines excellent choices for those looking to explore the wines of Alsace, and they are exceptional values as well. I’ve been drinking Kuentz-Bas for a couple of decades now, and it seems almost criminal that I’ve now done more reviews of their wines, I guess it is because I was mostly drinking them for my own personal pleasure. I was glad to grab this bottle recently when I went on the Kermit Lynch website to get some interesting value wines and remembered how much I like these Kuentz-Bas offerings, especially this one and the Gewürztraminer!
($22 Est.) 90 Points, grapelive