Meyer-Fonné, Riesling Reserve, Alsace, France 2023

Félix Meyer’s Riesling Réserve combines a few plots of vines, some from sandstone, some from granite, with a dose of declassified grand cru Riesling as well. Crisp and zesty, it’s stimulating enough for an apéritif, but generous enough for your main course.

Grapes are gently pressed in a pneumatic press for 4-10 hours, and then the must is left for 24-36 hours to allow the heavy lees to settle. Fermentation lasts 1-3 months in temperature-controlled stainless steel tanks or oak barrels. Wine is racked two weeks after fermentation is completed and kept on the fine lees until the mid-May bottling.

It’s all about the details at Meyer-Fonné, with an emphasis on tradition and respect for terroir. The winery and family home is in the village of Katzenthal, known for its distinctive granite soils. Meyer is a master at the art of blending and astutely applies this skill in mixing the wine from various parcels into complex, balanced cuvées. He also believes in raising his wines on fine lees in large, older foudres, as was the tradition in Alsace.

All of Meyer’s bottlings are characterized by stunning aromatics and a signature backbone of minerality and nerve. Racy and elegant, his wines are difficult to resist young but have all the right qualities for the cellar. For aromatic and textural seductiveness, no one in Alsace can top Meyer-Fonné.