Riesling Kabinett Marienburg
Full of deliciously ripe pear and berry fruit, just juicy enough, just slatey enough, just EVERYTHING enough! Sourced from cooler sites higher up the slope of the Marienburg, it usually hovers in the 30-40g R/S range in any given year, but zoomed up to 58g/l. Marked in this vintage by exotic passionflower and candied violets, it is one of the most intesne Kabs I have ever tasted from Clemens. Fuller than a Saar Kab but still leaner and twinklier than a Rheinish one, it is intensely pleasurable to drink---and one hopes a signpost for what can be achieved organically with low sulfur in this style.
"The majority of Clemens's production is grown on the extremely steep Pündericher Marienburg, a 25 hectare vineyard that spans and entire hillside facing the village of Pünderich. Exposed full South/Southwest and right on the edge of the river, it is widely considered amongst the very best sites in the Mosel. 16 of the Clemens' hectares are here, with only 2 hectares originally inherited from his father.
As more and more of his neighbors abandoned the great vineyards of the Marienburg throughout the 80's to plant Pinot Noir in the plains (which could be worked mechanically and was in much higher demand at the time), Clemens capitalized on their eagerness to sell at low prices. In due time, he managed to acquire monopoles of many of the Marienburg's different terroirs, sometimes going as far as buying neighboring parcels from 11 different owners!
The lieu-dit Marienburg was originally a much smaller, individual parcel that shared the hill with many other vineyards, all with their own names and attributes. In 1971, a law hoping to unify the identity of the area's varied terroirs declared that the entire hill be re-named Marienburg. This decision never sat well with Clemens; as the fifth generation working this land, he knew that these vineyards featured different soils compositions and micro-climactic variables influenced by fissures, vineyard walls, the inclination of slope and exposure. In such, Clemens vinifies and bottles his wines based on the original vineyard names."