{"product_id":"chateau-bela-dry-riesling-2022","title":"Château Belá Riesling 2020","description":"\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eThe Land\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eSlovakia is not a country most people associate with serious Riesling, and that is largely an accident of the twentieth century rather than a verdict on the ground. Belá sits in the Štúrovo region in the far south of the country, on the north bank of the Danube where it forms the border with Hungary, and the Romans were growing vines on these hills long before anybody drew those lines. Soils are deep loess, wind-blown silt that holds water and warms readily, and the climate is properly continental: hot summers, cold winters, and sharp diurnal swings well away from any maritime moderation. That combination is what pulled Egon Müller here in the first place. It gives Riesling the ripeness to go fully dry while keeping the acidity a great Riesling needs.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eThe Wine\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e100% Riesling, fermented dry. This is Riesling made in the German idiom by someone with the deepest possible grounding in it, but transplanted to a warmer, drier, more continental site, and the difference shows: more flesh through the middle than a Saar Riesling and less of the razor-edged austerity, without giving up the acid spine. Lime, yellow apple, white peach, honeysuckle, and a smoky, flinty edge with a long dry finish. 2022 was hot and dry across central Europe, a drought year that pushed ripeness up and yields down. In a continental site with loess soils holding water, that produced a riper, broader vintage than usual, and the dry finish is what keeps it in balance.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eThe People\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eEgon Müller is the fourth of his name to run Weingut Egon Müller-Scharzhof on the Saar, which by most accounts makes the finest Riesling in the world. The Belá project came about through family: his wife is connected to the descendants of Baron Georg Ullmann de Baranyavár, who was forced off the estate in 1946 and whose family bought the ruined castle back in 2000. Müller visited the Štúrovo region at the end of that year, tasted wines a neighboring grower had made, and concluded the loess and the continental climate could produce a serious dry Riesling. He works with Miroslav Petrech, who makes the wine on site. The first vintage was 2001.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eFood Pairing\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eDry Riesling with this much ripeness handles richer food than most whites. Roast pork loin with apples and mustard, seared scallops with brown butter, a duck breast with cherry sauce, or Thai green curry with chicken and basil. The acidity cuts through fat and the fruit weight stands up to chile heat and ginger, which is where dry Riesling consistently outperforms almost everything else. Serve it around 50 degrees, and give it a year or three if you can stand to; this style gains from bottle age.\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Willette Wines","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":51195254669535,"sku":null,"price":31.0,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0439\/7436\/1248\/files\/P8150132_2711e8a0-488b-480f-ab03-86b407311f5f.jpg?v=1786842685","url":"https:\/\/denverwinemerchant.com\/products\/chateau-bela-dry-riesling-2022","provider":"Denver Wine Merchant","version":"1.0","type":"link"}