Domaine Kuenhof Riesling ‘Kaiton’ Alto Adige 2021

A restaurant wine in all senses, in that this ethereal wine is on some of the best lists in London (the original Petersham Nurseries and the brilliant Luca Restaurant to name two), is small production, is unusual in being an Italian Riesling, and is usually snaffled up by sommeliers before it reaches retail in any significant way. 

Brigitte and Peter Pliger are the winemakers with an organic philosophy. The Alto Adige is mountainous, on the borders of Austria in the foothills of the alps and the vineyards are steep, exposing the grapes to a lot of sunshine. That extra sun combined with the organic philosophy of Brigette and Peter gives some top quality wine.

Clean fruity flavours dominate, predominantly lemon, lime, grapefruit and apricot. Very zingy and fresh but there is a touch more weight to it from the huge very old oak barrels used for ageing. 

We suggest drinking this in 2022 with almost any fish or seafood but especially anything with tomato. The riesling in this bone dry style cuts through creamy pasta and risotto and would stand up well to pork belly too. 

More to come from the Alto Adige region..