I was in the mood for something with high acid and decided to crack open a 2018 Keller RR.
Last time I had this back in January, the wine was a bit effervescent and the acidity was like a lightning rod. It also had notable petrol. With air over a couple hours, the acidity rounded out and the petrol blew off a little bit.
This time around, the wine tastes like the last bottle did after a couple hours. It still has super high acid and a bit of petrol, but not the lightning rod acidity, no effervescence and the petrol isn’t as strong. It’s a VERY good wine, but I was really hoping for the electric acidity.
A couple questions:
Any recommendations of other rieslings (or other white wines) that consistently deliver “lightning rod” acidity? Perhaps something from Okanagan Valley, which I hear has the lowest pH on can find?
Is it possible that in the last 4-5 months, this bottle has softened a little bit? Or is the difference between these two bottles just a bit of bottle variation?
Temperature could be a factor. Acid is more conspicuous in a cold wine – for example, straight from the refrigerator.
As for regions with high-acid riesling: Go the Saar and Ruwer, tributaries of the Mosel that are cooler, and the wines really show it. There are lots of good producers that are well distributed, such as von Schubert/Max. Grunhaus and Karthauserhof in the Ruwer, and von Hovel and Schloss Saarstein in the Saar, plus Egon Muller if you’ve got money to spare.
I was going to suggest this too. Even the entry level Brokenwood is quite good, and inexpensive. ILR and Oakey Creek, if you can find them, tend to be released with a little more bottle age, which is a good thing. Being bone dry and harvested so early, these are some of the most acidic feeling wines out there.
Ruwer and Saar Riesling in high acid vintages.
Albariño/Alvarinho that has not undergone malolactic fermentation – it’s not always easy to find out, but when you can, this can be a good bet. Plus they’re not so austere as young Hunter Semillon.
Loire Chenin from producers like Guiberteau and Boudignon tends to have very brisk, sometimes screaming, acidity.
Finger Lakes Riesling from good producers (Forge, Ravines, Wiemer).
I found the 2019 Zilliken Saarburg Riesling Kabinett (the “regular”, not the Rausch) to provide some of that energetic electric acidity, though maybe not to lightning levels and not out of balance with the crystalline and flowery profile of the wine.
My thought too. How would you compare Guiberteau and Boudignon? I have tried to like Guiberteau but can’t get past lukewarm. Screechy and not enough fruit. How does Boudignon compare? I’ve been getting offered them.
Thanks! I’m glad it doesn’t belong in your critic bingo thread. I didn’t come up with it, but “brisk” makes so much sense to me when talking about the nature of acidity that I use it regularly.
The thing for me with Guiberteau is I need to get to the top wines (Breze and Carmes) to find harmony, at least in some vintages. The lesser wines don’t always have enough flesh to balance out that acidity, for my taste (and I love Loire wines and Riesling).
For Boudignon, I’ve only had the Anjou bottlings, not the Savennieres. The Anjous have, to my taste, prominent acidity, but acidity that’s better integrated than I often find with Guiberteau. It’s noticeable without being the thing I notice most prominently. I think it’s partially because the wines are not so lean as Guiberteau’s lower level bottlings can be. If Guiberteau can feel like young Hunter Semillon with more alcohol, Boudignon is more like high quality Sancerre from a cool vintage. Of course, this is all very personal, but that’s my take.
My experience with German Riesling has been that it’s more vintage-dependent than producer-dependent. 2010 and 2015 were high acid vintages — seek them out.
I would partly disagree with that as there many other factors. For example acid is a critical component of the Falkenstein style and warmer regions like the Pfalz typically have less high acid wines. So it is really a combination of producer, region and vintage.
Sure there are vintage and producer variations, but there are very consistent regional differences. In terms of perceived acidity, Saar-Ruwer > Middle Mosel > Rhine regions
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