SaalwächterSilvaner Alte Reben 2021 (750ml)

The “old vines” here refer to vines up to about 50 years old, mostly sourced from limestone parcels in and around Ingelheim in the north-central Rheinhessen. At only 11.5% this is the lightest but also the most cutting Silvaner “alte Reben” I’ve had from Saalwächter. Carsten often calls this bottling his “Saalwächter water,” meaning the wine is just so essential and refreshing that you should drink it like water – but in 2021 there is a sternness here. The 2021 is raw-feeling, even harsh right now, with herbal and smoky phenolics, tree sap and pine-needle, forest-floor distillates. Delicately oxidative, the citrus and yellow-fruit is subtle, overshadowed right now by the smoke and phenolic grip, the salty minerality and gripping acidity. Serious stuff. He writes on the back label, “Karaffieren empfohlen” – “decanting recommended. Yup.