2023 Riesling Bernkastel-Kues Alte Reben

Christina Thanisch presented a brilliant, sassy and scented collection of Rieslings this year, with great purity, fine aromatics and the trademark lightness of the estate. Her chief joy about 2023 is that it enabled her to make some Auslesen: “In 2021 and 2022, we barely made Auslese, but in 2023, we were able to. It was important to have a vintage like that. We have no vintage in the cellar without Auslese—bar 2022,” she notes, adding, “The dry wines are also from fully ripe fruit but have more acidity across the board than 2022.” Thanisch started picking in late September and finished on October 17. The highest Prädikat they made in 2023 was a Beerenauslese, only in tiny quantities. “We had superb botrytis in  the Doctor  because we had no rain and it was sunny,” she reports.