Detonation Riesling 2018

The 2018 Riesling Detonation is deep, elegant and spicy on the fine yet intense nose. Round and juicy on the palate, this is a very elegant, refined and salty Riesling that reminds me of Alsace. The finish is salty and piquant and reveals a very first hint of maturity, which makes this Riesling an excellent lunch wine even today. An assemblage of partly really old vines, bottled with 11.5% alcohol. Tasted from AP 15 19 in April 2020.

2018 was an also uncomplicated vintage for Gernot Kollmann in Enkirch. Lots of sunshine, no problems with rot, much less plant protection than usual... Only the fermentations did not go through that easily due to a lack of nutrients in such a dry year. There are several wines that didn't ferment to legally dry even though the taste is round rather than sweet. From the Zolltum, only a Spätlese was made yet no dry or dry-styled Riesling. In the Batterieberg, Kollman selected an exceptional Auslese and a dry grand cru. Like 2003 and similar to 2009, the 2018 vintage also brings rich, full-bodied, very generous wines that need about 10 to 15 years to reach their peak, says Kollmann, who promised to prepare a few 2009s for me during my next visit later this summer. I will also come back here to taste some wines again that didn't convince me in spring this year since all the 2018s from Immich-Batterieberg—except for Escheburg and Ellergrub, which were filled in September 2019—were bottled in April 2020. This might explain why I had some unexpected difficulties with a few wines when I tasted them only two weeks later.

This very elegant and sophisticated dry riesling screams out for refined fish dishes or seafood. Super mineral and so polished at the very long finish. Drink or hold. Screw cap.