Clemens Busch

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We’ve been banging the Riesling drum since the early beginnings of Honest Grapes and our dear friend Clemens Busch and his wife Rita take pride of place in our crown of offerings from the steep slate hillsides of Germany. Over the past three decades their wines have enjoyed a deserved cult following for their precise, textured, and terroir-driven expressions, though their popularity continues to increase thanks to a recent string of top scores in the Wine Advocate and from James Suckling!

Clemens is a close friend of our founder Nathan, who has extensive experience with German Riesling and considers these to be unmatched in their quality and character. This sentiment is very much shared by the rest of the Wine Gurus, and we’ve been thrilled to have Clemens over in the UK as well as virtually for several tastings with Club Members, who are similarly enthused by the incredible quality of these wines.

Clemens was among the first German winemakers to embrace organic farming in 1984, and in 2005, fully transitioned to biodynamic production. His commitment to quality and sustainability earned him membership of the prestigious VDP organisation, though it is more recently his wines have reached an even wider audience following rave reviews from Anne Kriebhiel, Stephen Reinhardt and James Suckling.

The Wine

Clemens Busch' wines always display his signature style, with pure, driven fruit, great energy and intensity on the mid-palate, before resolving themselves fully with a thirst-inducing saline hit on the finish. These are wines that flirt with the philosophical, though always remain delicious to drink and true to the chameleon-like slate terroir of the Mosel.

Whilst there are certainly peaks within his portfolio, most notably the unicorn Trockenbeerenauslese, even the estate Kabinett is stunning, and the mid-range GGs are some of the best value wines you'll find anywhere.

The microclimates created by the diverse slate slopes result in a multitude of unique expressions, each vinified separately and bottled as individual plots. Using only natural yeasts for fermentation, the wines achieve a perfect balance between fruit, structure, and sweetness, reflecting the specific characteristics of each vintage.