Daily wine

Achillée Riesling 2018

Domaine Achillée Riesling 2018

The Q-word

When I speak of wine I rarely speak of quality.

Quality is about meeting (or exceeding) expectations. The specifications are set and clear. Meet the specs and you’ve delivered quality.

The majority of wine produced is certainly made from set specifications. But the wine I drink (and I assume that the same goes for you) are less of a commodity to be of such predictive character.

The outcome of a truly remarkable wine is formed along the way. Because it’s not made in a factory. It’s made my a human being who knows the craft. Or the art, if you will. Like there’s a difference between a painter and an artist.

And then there are the exceptions, or gray zones:

Barolo

Champagne

and…

Alsace

Alsace is the essence of ‘terroir’. Riesling is probably the region’s most renowned variety to express it sense of place. And the winegrowers are packed together in a very small space. Experience have accumulated for ages and so have our expectations. A strong mental spec has formed.

My mental spec consists of words like dry, crisp, tropical, mineral, complex, uplifting and joyful.

Of course, talking about production quality we can’t avoid also taking into consideration the ever-present elephant in the room: Price

. . .

Domaine Achillée is all about quality.

And since the first time I tasted their ‘basic’ Riesling from 2018 I’ve been impressed by the precision and drinkability of this wine. I am just enjoying this wine so much.

So in the end it all depends on the price. Which by my standards is definitely acceptable.

Today it got a little better.

Achillèe Riesling 2018

Skriv et svar