Reichsgraf von Kesselstatt, RK Riesling 2018 750ml

This high-volume calling-card wine for the Kesselstatt estate (its initials stand for “Reichsgraf von Kesselstatt) incorporates some purchased fruit, but leans heavily on recently expanded and in some instances recently replanted Kesselstatt vineyards in the Konzer Tälchen sector of the Saar: Niedermenniger Herrenberg, Krettnacher Euchariusberg, and Oberemmeler Rosenberg. Given such distinguished sources, one could certainly have hoped for more than gets delivered, but the wine is perfectly pleasant: predominantly appley, with low-key herbal, floral and stony suggestions; soft in feel and rather loose, but refreshingly juicy and buoyant in finish, with supportive but virtually hidden sweetness. There are at least three other generic Kesselstatt bottlings from 2018 that I have not tasted, two of those relatively widely distributed and labeled “Schloss Marienlay” for the estate’s winery facility.