Therianthropy 'Claire de Lune' Riesling 2022

Therianthropy Claire de Lune Riesling 2022

And here's a Riesling as precise as a beam of light through a window on a dusty afternoon. It comes from the Grimsby Hillside Vineyard in Lincoln Lakeshore, where the soils are silty clay over calcareous heavy red clay (that means there's lots of iron existing in the soil!) Seventeen-year-old vines, all dry-farmed. Although vintage 2022 was a disastrous year for yields across Ontario after extensive winter damage, the quality was exceptional. Scarcity is real for this vintage, as they only managed to make 107 cases.

Ten per cent of the grapes spent 19 days on their skins, so you get a nice extra textural something all over the wine. Spontaneous fermentation in concrete egg over 32 days. Full malolactic fermentation. Seven months on fine lees. No stirring. Unfined, unfiltered. Bottled after 34 months of rest. That's almost three years of patience.

The wine is dry and salty. Fresh apples, lemongrass, lime zest. Then things get interesting. Candied banana, lemon oil, something metallic and mineral that they call "spare change" but that I will call "rich-in-iron-soils", ginger too, pink peppercorns. Crunchy nectarine and yellow plum skin with a long, textured finish dancing in your tongue.

Drink it with oysters, or with grilled fish.