Ungeheur GG, 2020

Dry German Riesling from a top vineyard in Forst: dense and powerful, but with a cool, juicy tension holding it together.

This is Riesling from the Pfalz in Germany. Von Winning, based in Deidesheim, was a founding member of the VDP growers' association, and Ungeheuer is one of its top-classified vineyards in neighbouring Forst; GG, Grosses Gewächs, marks the dry wine from such a site. The estate works six parcels there on basalt, sandstone and limestone, and head winemaker Kurt Rathgeber ferments with wild yeasts in oak barrels. Density and power, held by cool, juicy acidity, and six years in bottle to settle.