2023 Schloss Lieser, Riesling Trocken “Schiefer” Mosel, Germany.
The bright tangy fresh 2023 Riesling Schiefer, by Schloss Lieser and Thomas Haag, was sourced mainly from vines in the Kestener Paulinshofberg, not too far from the legendary Brauneberger Juffer and set on classic blue Devonian weathered slate soils, hence the name, and delivers a value packed performance on the racy lighter framed palate. This vintage is nicely aromatic and vividly crisp with plenty of tension and nice complexity with green apple, grapefruit, tart peach, mango and quince fruits, along with smoky mineral flinty notes, crystalized ginger, spearmint and delicate florals. This pale hued and dry Riesling is a great way to start exploring the collection at Schloss Lieser, which is pretty exceptional from their basic dry wines to the Grand Cru GGs, as well as their medium to fully sweet versions. Fast becoming one of the top go to estates in the Mosel, Schloss Lieser is putting out some fantastic and elegant Rieslings, which I got to taste last Summer with the winery’s newest generation winemaker Lara Haag, who studied at Geisenheim University in the Rheingau.
Schloss Lieser, under Thomas Haag, who is really bringing these wines to the attention of the wine world, is beautiful Neo-Renaissance castle that was built in 1875 and was little known for wine until the Haag’s got here, especially Oliver and Thomas, who took over in 1992. In the cellar, the fermentations at Schloss Leiser are always spontaneous, with Thomas saying that is how he likes their Mosel Rieslings and he feels employing native yeast fermentations are an important part of house style. As I’ve mentioned in my prior reviews Schloss Lieser almost always use stainless steel exclusively in their Riesling wines, which shows off the terroir and adds to the crystalline purity you find in these wines, as seen here. This Schiefer Trocken, with the grapes getting a cool, gentle pressing as to not allow for bitter phenolics, saw a spontaneous fermentation and lees aging in tank and was bottled in the early spring of 2024, making for a wine to be enjoyed in its youth, though it should mature nicely for a decade at least, and I recommend grabbing it for the Summer months ahead.
($27 ESt.) 91 Points, grapelive