Domaine Schlumberger "Kitterle" Riesling Grand Cru 2019
(Alsace, France) - [JS 96] [WA 94] [VM 93] [WE 92]

About the Winery:
With a single holding of more than 330 acres at Guebwiller, Domaines Schlumberger is the largest Grands Crus producer in Alsace. All Schlumberger wines are estate-grown. Seventy-five percent of the vines are planted on very steep, terraced slopes, requiring horses be used for fieldwork.

The outstanding quality of the wines is due largely to Schlumberger’s superior vineyards, but also because yields are deliberately kept low. The winery produces only 80,000 cases annually, while the law allows for up to 160,000.

About this Wine:
First distinguished in 1699, Kitterlé has always had an exceptional reputation. Already protected in the Middle Ages, it has been sold under its own name since 1830.

It is grown on a unique volcanic sandstone plot on a steeply sloping rocky outcrop facing three ways (south-west, south and south-east). The light, sandy soil, which is kept back by huge drystone walls, only gives very low yields of about 25 to 35 hl/ha. The grapes are hand-picked and whole bunches are pressed. There was a static settling of the lees and the wine is fermented in temperature controlled tuns, followed by raising on the lees for eight months.

Tasting Notes:
The robe is lemon yellow with green reflections of good intensity. The disk is bright, limpid and transparent. The wine shows youth. The nose is marked, pleasant and open, with fresh and fruity scents: citrus fruits, lemon zest, orange and fine notes of white flowers with a hint of minerality. The airing enhances and specifies these scents. It reveals orange blossom and emphasises the smoky personality of the terroir. The wine evolves on a medium with a frank liveliness, marked by a sparkling note. We find the same aromas as on the nose, dominated by citrus fruits, clementine zest, lemon, orange, white flower as well as this noble mineral and smoky personality.

Specifications
Alcohol content: 13% vol.
Residual Sugar: 1.32 g/l
Acidity: 5.29 g/l

Ratings and Reviews

96 Points - James Suckling:
"Lots of crushed rock character with white grapefruit, lime pith, chamomile and oranges. It’s powerful, driven and pure, full-bodied and sensationally minerally. Salty undertones. Long and very deep. Just beginning to open up. Drink or hold." (Apr 2024)

94 Points - Wine Advocate:
"The 2019 Riesling Grand Cru Kitterlé is clear, deep and refined on the elegant and intense nose that intertwines very fine Riesling aromas with the terrific terroir notes of this terraced 29-hectare cru on volcanic sandstone soils. Thew fruit is very well defined and intertwined with discreet notes of ashes. It is finessed yet also dense and complex on the palate, with a long, intense and mineral finish but also the richness and sweetness of the vintage. This is an extraordinary Kitterlé with a long, enormously saline and finely tannic finish. This is another impressive 2019 Riesling from Schlumberger in Guebwiller, southern Alsace. It is savory and, in a very positive way, astringent on the finish. This is still terribly young but enjoyable and worth cellaring for about a decade and longer. 13.5% stated alcohol. Natural cork." - Stephen Reinhardt (Mar 2024)

93 Points - Vinous Media:
"The 2019 Riesling Kitterlé Grand Cru comes mostly from Triassic sandstone with quite a bit of volcanic basalt and reddish streaks of iron oxide. The nose is slightly smoky. Yet a more colorful fruit brightens through on the palate, ticking off Mirabelle plums and the juiciest lemon. This is mouth-watering and stony with slight overtones of quince and a gorgeous texture, muscular and taut. (Bone-dry)" - Anne Kreibiehl (Apr 2023)

92 Points - Wine Enthusiast:
"Saline scents are balanced by ripe white nectarine and that signature petrol aroma. The wine is bright and fresh, with dry, crisp summer stone fruits hemmed in by bracing acidity and savory petrol qualities. A bit of white pepper comes through on the medium-length finish, making for a wine that's overall fun to drink and easy to like." - Layla Schlack (Nov 2022)