Mosel Riesling according to Sybille Kuntz

It was mineral and dry, the Riesling that made me finally appreciate the varietal.

It wasn’t about sweetness. It was about acidity, as all wine is to me. Acidity is key. The balance of acidity is the most important characteristic – it’s the pepper on the steak, the thing that holds it all together.

When an ambitious young winemaker decides to set up a new estate in Germany, it usually doesn’t makes news. But if it’s 1984, and the newcomer happens to be a woman set out to make different (oh no, “authentic”) styles of Riesling, soon people take notice. For Sybille Kuntz, the leading figure and founder of Sybille Kuntz estate, breaking old-world traditions in more ways one just served as free press.

Today, Sybille Kuntz and husband Markus Kuntz-Riedling together run the Sybille Kuntz estate and are considered “leaders of the Mosel region Riesling renaissance” for their focus on producing dry and refined wines that emphasize the character of the region.

This afternoon, I had the privilege of attending a roundtable discussion and tasting led by Sybille and Markus themselves, at Rialto restaurant in Harvard Square, Cambridge, which I was kindly privy to thanks to sommelier Miguel Escobar at 51 Lincoln restaurant in Newton.

We tasted through a gamut of current selections, from the elegant and mineral trockens (dry) to honey-like (but dry-fermented) ausleses – some of the spiciest Rieslings I’ve tried. The wines were superb. Always have been, since I discovered them for myself years ago – before I had a chance to buy and introduce them to my customers at the wine store.

Their personal mantra is that “wine is made in the vineyard, not in the winery”. This means low yields, pre-picking, green harvesting, careful watch over fermentation, and commitment to organic methods.

What’s most fascinating to me about wines I like are stories behind them. Meeting the winemakers deserves attention for that reason alone. Learning from winemakers as they present their creations at a tasting is another education entirely—because as a whole, German wines are easy to enjoy, but not easy to digest (intellectually). There is too much nomenclature. Between the laws on geographical classification and styles of quality, it becomes confusing as hell unless you are 1) in the industry and 2) regularly taste and update yourself on current wines.

Sybille Kuntz’s wines are on the mid-price side, but they are worth it—because they are good. They make you care and they make you question. They educate you on the wonderful diversity of the Rieslig grape. They make you curious. And once you are curious, you are hooked.