Gunther Steinmetz, Riesling Trocken Wiltinger Rosenberg "Alte Reben", 2021 [Pre-Arrival ETA 7/15]

Here Stefan Steinmetz strays from his Middle Mosel home base to the cooler, higher-strung Saar, and the change of address shows. The Wiltinger Rosenberg is a grey-slate slope in Wiltingen, and this old-vine ("Alte Reben") cuvee is bottled bone-dry, with several months in oak adding a whisper of texture to the Saar's steely core. Expect a leaner, more crystalline kind of Riesling than his Mosel bottlings: taut, high-acid, and unapologetically dry. An outlier in the range, and a fascinating one.