Clemens Busch Vom Roten Schiefer Riesling 2022

A true pioneer of the German biodynamic winegrowing movement. Clemens stopped using herbicides on his father’s 2 hectares of Mosel vines back in 1976, and with his wife Rita, converted the estate to organic farming in 1984, and to biodynamic practices in 2005.

Reflecting on the past and continuing a legacy by living in the Busch family home that was constructed of stone and timber dating back to 1663, their forward-thinking in protecting the future has always been apparent, with their establishing of an association of organic growers in the late 1980s. Clemens and Rita have mentored many young growers in caring for the way in which the lands are farmed, including their son Florian who has joined them in their winemaking legacy. The Busch family pride themselves on the hands-on approach they maintain in the 18 hectares of vineyards now in their keep, and this manual labour has seen them plant on older, previously abandoned sites on the steep slopes of the Mosel that were an impediment to the accessibility of machine assistance, with vines ranging from 35 to 100 years old.

What really sets Clemens’ wines apart are in his approach: in a region where ageability of Rieslings is associated with sweet Mosel wines, 80-90% of the wines Clemens produces are dry. His south-facing slope of his Marienburg site on the infamous slate allows him the luxury of picking much later than his Mosel neighbours for his Grosses-Gewächs Rieslings (grand cru classification of dry wine). Unfined and unfiltered, and with minimal sulfur only added at bottling, Clemens employs extended lees aging in aged 1000L fuders, the youngest being 60 years old, resulting in wines of incredible texture and concentration. Tense, mineral and pure.