Seckinger - King 2017
We drink a bottle of Riesling King 2017 from the Seckinger Winery in the Palatinate.
I’ve been eyeing this bottle of wine for a while now. Always with the thought of whether I should leave it lying around a bit longer, or maybe rather open it, and whether it might maybe be too mature already. It of course was nowhere near of being too mature, so much can be said in advance. Otherwise this post would not exist anyway. But sometimes you just have your thoughts, right? Under the name Pure, the three Seckinger brothers fill natural wines, all of which are spontaneously fermented and only get a little bit of sulfur if necessary added when being filled. There is no filtering or fining. Jonas, Phillip and Lukas Seckinger founded their winery with the five points on the label in 2012 in Niederkirchen in the Palatinate. Quite successful one can probably say, because at least I run into the wines all the time. The vineyard portfolio with now around 14 hectares is biodynamically farmed. The grapes for today’s wine grew around Königsbach, hence the name King. Since the wine is bottled as a Landwein though, Königsbach is not allowed to appear on the label. For marketing, this is certainly sometimes a challenge, as you always have to explain a little bit more. I personally find King there actually more appealing than if it said Königsbach on the label. The wine was aged in used 500 liter barrels, took its time with the fermentation and therefore got about two years of time.
The first smell eliminates any doubt. This is extremely fresh, briefly a bit funky and then becomes clearer and cooler. There is a lot of minerality and a bit of herbal spice. When drinking, the Riesling is very juicy and at the same time has a nice substantial texture that you can chew on. Where there is practically no fruit in the nose right now, it tastes quite citrusy with grapefruit and lime juice when drinking. This is really good.
The fruit then comes in the form of pome fruit a day later. There is a bit of pear, a bit of apple and a bit of quince. Orchard mix somehow. But the wine does not become really fruity. If you are looking for that, then you are wrong here. What still impresses me is how clear and cool the wine remains. There are still the herbs and the structure, both when smelling and then in the mouthfeel. This chewing on the wine while being lean, salty and so clear at the same time is a great combination. This is a wine that works much more in how it feels when drinking than about what it actually tastes like. Allthough it is very lean, it is mouthwateringly juicy with your tongue demanding the next sip. More air brings more herbiness to the Riesling and it becomes almost a bit ethereal and very slowly it starts to show with a gentle, crumbly creaminess that it actually was not filled this year but already has some years under its belt. You don’t notice that for long though because then water runs along your cheeks again and you drink right on. This is one of those wines where what you write does not really do justice to what you drink. The way this feels when drinking is just great and already one of the Riesling highlights for this year.