2018 der Wiltinger Le Grand I Große Lage Riesling Cantzheim

Sourced from the Wiltinger crus Schlossberg, Schlangengraben, Braunfels and Klosterberg, Anna and Stephan Reimann's 2018 Saar Riesling der Wiltinger Le Grand opens with a clear, refined and elegant but also intense and unique mineral bouquet of ripe, slate-driven fruits and notes of weathered, mineral-rich, even iodine rocks. Round and refined on the palate, this is a rich and generous, very complex and charming Wiltinger Riesling that is reminiscent of the 2003 vintage in all its generous fruit ripeness, catnip aromas and balanced texture. It reveals fine and ripe acidity that makes this a round and lush as well as intense and balanced Riesling in the off-dry, texture-wise Alsatian style, just like Andreas Barth's (Weingut Lubentiush) Gondorfer Gäns Riesling trocken GenZ of the same vintage, also reviewed in this report. 12.5% stated alcohol. Natural cork. Tasted in October 2023.

This is only a small excerpt of the excellent Saar Rieslings produced by Anna and Stephan Reimann from the beautiful Weingut Cantzheim in Kanzem. Not only do the guest rooms belong to the finest in all of Mosel, Saar and Ruwer, the wines have also improved and refined a lot since the first vintage. Anna sent me some 2021s and a 2018 that is only now starting to show its class. A third visit to this domaine, which was founded in 2016, is long overdue, and I will taste the 2022s in situ in winter. Due to sustainability reasons, Reimann is only using smaller and lighter Mosel bottles and no longer uses any aluminum capsules, not even in Crémant, which earned them a warning under an outdated EU regulation. The counterclaim with 60 fellow winegrowers led to the introduction of an amendment to the EU Parliament, whose approval is considered certain. Finally, the Reimanns are also returning to natural cork, not least to preserve the biodiversity of the cork oak forests. Only one wine in my tasting was sealed with an aluminum screw cap. In the future, however, there will be none.