Uncanny purity of fruit to this with sliced-peach and slate character. Sea-salt undertone. Full-bodied, creamy and tangy. Dry and energetic. Contrastive. Incredible value. Drink or hold. Screw cap.

This is one of the most widely distributed wines of the Donnhoff estate in the Nahe, and it showcases their pristine, clear-cut but expressive style of Riesling. Fermented in large oak but matured in stainless steel, it once again is a celebration of vibrant citrus, lemon, lime and grapefruit but with an added bounce of juicy tropical fruit at the centre. It displays the signature Donnhoff tautness.

The 2018 Tonschiefer was also bottled a few days prior to my arrival at the estate, but again, was not yet closed down from the mise and was showing very well indeed. The alcohol here is somewhere between twelve and twelve and a half percent this year and the wine offers up a very refined and precise bouquet of tart orange, slate, grapefruit, a nice touch of the vintage’s salinity, citrus zest and a topnote of white flowers. On the palate the wine is bright, full-bodied and quite racy in personality, with a lovely core, excellent backend mineral drive and superb lift and grip on the very long finish. This may well be the finest vintage of Tonschiefer I have ever tasted! (Drink between 2019-2045)