Abtei '1937' Riesling Erstes Gewächs Trocken

Variety: Riesling • Region: Nahe • Vineyard: Bingerbrücker Abtei. From the steepest parts of Abtei, some of the blocks planted before WW2 the rest in the beginning of the 60s • Soil Type: Phyllite • Fermentation & Élevage: Spontaneous fermentation in over 30 years old Stückfass. Full yeast contact till June, bottling end of June • Farming: Certified organic

Bingerbrücker Abtei:
Abtei is a south facing site in Bingerbrück in Ruppertsberg, the most northern, south facing site in the Nahe. It’s the same exposition as the Rheingau and quite steep. Soils here are a very particular kind of metamorphic rock called phyllite, which is basically mica inflected slate. Part of the vineyard was planted in 1937 and this is the section that the Erste Lage wine comes from. The rest is declassed into a wine named for the soil type. The name Abtei came from the Abbey of Hilldegard vom Bingen, a really amazing personality in the 11th/12th century.  The Abbey moved across the Rhein and today is the Abbey that sits upon the Rüdeheimer Klosterlay. She is often sited as the person that Steiner stole his ideas from. “If she wasn’t a Saint, she would have been burned at the stake” is what’s often said.