2015 Schlossgut Diel, Riesling Trocken, Burg Layen, Nahe Germany.
Anyone with any doubts about the quality of dry Riesling and or the vintage 2015 in Germany need only to try the wines of Caroline Diel at Schlossgut Diel in the Nahe to become a believer, these are fantastic wines of delicacy, grace and layers with subtle fruit and loads of mineral charm. A recent visit to Diel enlightened me further still, the unique character of each site is profound at Diel, and Caroline is a master at capturing each site’s essence in the bottle, this goes for all of her wines from the base level estate Riesling all the way to her top Grosses Gewachs and of course her majestic Pinot Noir, oh and by the way, if you ever get a chance to try her bubbly Riesling Brut Sekt Goldloch, do not miss this opportunity, it’s as good as any top grower producer Champagne, in fact I like it better than 90% of them! Back to style, Diel has also been a leader in taste and was hugely maverick in promoting dry Riesling to the world, and tasting through the Diel wines, you can see why, these 2015’s especially are ultra wondrous and gorgeous examples, even though I really dig their off dry offerings like the Terry Theise inspired “Von Der Nahe” QbA and the stunning Dorsheimer Goldloch Kabinett, and the richly dense and not too sweet Pittermannchen Spatlese, these are lovely wines too. Kind of a sleeper in the lineup was this sublime Trocken Burg Layen, named after the famed Schloss, which comes from the steep Burg Berg vineyard that is a mix of clay, gravel and broken slate, it has a zesty mix of flavors and is really a gateway wine into the GG’s at Diel and carries the soul of the winery and Caroline’s feline like style, silken and lengthy, but with underlying force and vitality, the Burg Bayen Trocken is spiced, perfumed and vibrant with white flowers, lime and green apple along with a hint of pineapple and apricot as well as glistening wet rock, spicy flint, earth/loamy, rosewater and a touch of salted verbena. This fine and focused example is classy, pure and pleasure filled with enough vigorous acidity to keep the acid heads in rapture, but with the vintage’s generous mouth feel, this screams Diel throughout, beautiful and spine tingling, drink over the next 3 to 5 years, though as with all the Diel wines it certainly will age well, there’s almost no limit, great stuff and thoroughly entertaining.
($40 Est.) 93 Points, grapelive