Date night - Black Slate vs Red Slate White wine

If you follow the river Rhine west, it splits off to a smaller tributary river called the Nahe. Around the river sprung up a little wine region on mouth of the river Nahe, where the wild romantic Middle Rhine Highlands begin. Götz & Ruth Blessing have a small family estate in Münster-Sarmsheim that is barely known about outside of Germany.

The Nahe area mostly grows Riesling grape, which can taste different depending on where it is grown and how it is fermented. Terrior refers to the soil in which the grapes grow. This region has volcanic slatey soil, which is very diverse. Some areas have lots of iron and are slightly red, and some are black, which stores the sun's warmth. Also sun affects the wine...the more sun, the less water and the more sugar in the grape, so the direction of the vineyard slopes make a difference to the taste.

In this box is two of their dry Riesling wines from 2022. One is grown on south east vineyard, with black slate soil. The other is entirely south facing with red slate soil. The black slate riesling is said to be more tropical, with fruity aromas of lychee and white currant, whereas the red slate riesling has aromas of peach and apricot.

So we have same grape, same winemakers, same vintage, both harvested in late October. The only differences are orientation and soil. 

Can you figure out which is the Black Slate Riesling and which is the Red Slate Riesling?

Whats in the box:

• two anonymised bottles of white wine
• two wine flight paddles to keep track of your glasses
• tasting notes and information on the wines to help you decide which wine you think matches the description
• decision discs to put under your glasses to lock in your answer