Bender Annaberg Riesling

Andreas Bender first learnt about soil, viticulture and terroir from his father, a vine propagator, and made his own wine when he was just thirteen years old. He knew from an early age that this is what he wanted to do for the rest of his life. Andreas spent a few years working for different wineries in Germany, France, Italy and the USA before starting his own project with his family’s vineyards in 2008.

His philosophy is quite unique in the world of German wine: instead of following the widely accepted German model whereby top single vineyards are vinified and bottled separately, he blends them according to three different styles: Dajoar, Paulessen and Hofpäsch. While on the one hand his ideas are very modern, when it comes to winemaking itself, Andreas is very committed to tradition: he believes careful cellar work, simple winemaking methods and natural fermentation.

Annaberg comes from one of the few hillside sites on the Mosel in which the typical grey slate morphs into a copper-coloured red slate. The vineyard is extremely steep, and climate is continental. Riesling thrives in the Mosel due to its cooler climate, great drainage and good aspect. The closeness to the river not only helps in keeping temperate conditions but also helps to ripen the fruit used in making the wine by reflecting sunlight throughout the valley. This helps to maintain the wines naturally high acidity while reaching an optimum ripeness and flavour profile.

Organic practices are used throughout, and as such pesticides and herbicide use is kept to a minimum. Grapes are hand harvested; due to the steep hillside the vines are grown on. Fermentation is spontaneous (no yeast is added) and occurs in old oak casks. The wine then spends eleven months on its lees in barrel, this helps to soften that high acidity while creating a more complex character. The wine is un-fined with just a touch of sulphur at bottling, and is a dry style, with just three grams per litre of residual sugar.

Displaying flavours of lime, wax, stone, elderflower and red apple this Riesling sings with varietal character and that traditional Mosel quality. Balanced with a slightly fuller textured than others this Riesling makes a great choice for anyone who loves Riesling but wants something ever so slightly unique.