Clemens Busch - Great German Riesling 2016

"2016 was probably the greatest vintage so far for Busch's dry Grosses Gewächs Rieslings. These a very clear, elegant and well balanced yet highly expressive. In the end, Clemens was surprised that he harvested "a normal quantity after the freak weather of 2016," which summed up to 45 hectoliters per hectare on average. The musts fermented rather slow, for seven to eight months, and the long lees aging probably gave Busch's 2016s a certain X-factor that makes them outstanding Rieslings. They were bottled at the end of September 2017, except for the Reserves of Fahrlay and Rothenpfad, which were still on the lees in February 2018."
— Stephan Reinhardt, RobertParker.com

The Clemens Busch story, is essentially a story centred on the Pündericher Marienburg Grosse Lage (Grand Cru vineyard).This is a relatively sizeable vineyard, which was reduced in size a little when the Busch family joined the VDP. “Prior to the new winemaking laws of the 1970s, this area was comprised of many small individual vineyard sites. The individual names of the sites had their justifications, due to the different wines they yielded.” Differing slate soils and unique micro-climates play a large role in winemaking here. In order to differentiate the Marienburg's individual plots, the Busch family has used the corresponding historical names to describe the individual wines such as: Fahrlay, Falkenlay, Raffes, and Rothenpfad.

The Marienburg vineyard has been farmed organically since 1986, and biodynamically since 2005. It is predominantly composed of grey slate, although there are plots of blue and red slate present. Both dry and fruit sweet wines are made. The capsule colour gives a clue to the colour of slate in the plot.