France’s Alsace region, which straddles the eastern border with Germany, has much in common with its neighbors. While the residents speak French, many of their names are German and the wines are German in style. Especially the rieslings!
 
Mélanie Pfister has been a rising star in Alsace for the last decade, turning out red and white wines with incredible concentration and precision. Her rieslings in particular have caught our attention here at Mission, especially in the modern world where bone dry (meaning zero residual sugar) is the preference. 
 
The Berg Riesling comes from two vineyards that exhibit France's famous argile-calcaire mix, or clay-limestone soil. Locally, Berg's soils are known as Muschelkalk, a geological term referring to the middle Triassic period, and in Berg's case it's Muschelkalk topsoil--averaging 3-feet--over limestone bedrock. The clay gives Riesling body while the calcareous limestone gives finesse, focus, and length.
 
The Pfisters farm six plots of Riesling to make the Berg cuvée, totaling 3.18 acres. Production averages 900 cases annually for the entire planet, 2023 was even smaller and more concetrated. 
 
As Vinous wrote earlier this year, “the 2023 is the best… I have ever tasted.”
 
Very limited.

94 POINTS: JAMES SUCKLING - A very aromatic, fresh, dry riesling for Alsace with stacks of white tree fruit aromas plus notes of lemon blossoms and summer flowers. A very elegant mid-weight wine with excellent concentration, terrific fruit and beautifully integrated acidity. So much aging potential, and a bargain. From organically grown grapes with Fair'n Green certification. Drink or hold.

92 POINTS: VINOUS - The 2023 Riesling Berg, picked in early October, is sourced from four different plots of clay and Triassic limestone, all vinified in separate tanks. A lovely mandarin peel aroma plays around the subtle lemon on the nose, making for a scented, fresh, sunny Riesling. The palate is taut, friendly, vivid and light-footed yet there is nothing facile about it. Yum. (Bone-dry)