Riesling 3 Maidenstein 2023

A note on the name. The "3" isn't arbitrary — it refers to the residual sugar ceiling of the series: under 3 grams per litre. Bone dry, in other words. NEPRAŠ use this numbering system across their Riesling range (3, 5 and 7) to signal exactly where each wine sits on the dryness spectrum. It's one of those small details that tells you everything about a producer's philosophy: transparent, precise, and confident enough in the wine to let the numbers do the talking.

The vineyard. This is a single-clone Riesling — clone 239-25Gm specifically — grown on the certified organic Altenberg vineyard on Stará hora (Old Mountain) above Pavlov. The soils here are calcareous limestone, the same geology that defines the Pálava hills and gives NEPRAŠ wines their unmistakable mineral spine. The vines are farmed without synthetic inputs; the land is treated as something worth looking after for the long term.

The winemaking. NEPRAŠ's approach in the cellar is as unhurried as it is deliberate. The wine ferments and matures in a single large 2,500-litre Doppelstück oak barrel for almost a full year — essentially from one harvest to the next. At this scale, oak has no role as a flavour agent; it simply allows the wine to breathe and integrate slowly, building texture and depth without ever losing its varietal precision. No shortcuts, no interventions.

In the glass. Pale gold with a green tint. The nose is quiet at first — cool, stony, then gradually white peach, lemon zest and a distinctive chalky mineral note emerge. On the palate this is taut and focused, with lively acidity, a subtle savouriness and just a suggestion of grip on the finish — that light astringency that marks the NEPRAŠ house style and sets these wines apart from anything softer or more obviously commercial. Residual sugar under 3 g/l means there is nowhere for the fruit to hide; everything here is earned from the vineyard.

Why we carry it. NEPRAŠ is widely regarded as one of the Czech Republic's most important Riesling producers — ranked alongside the very best in Moravia for their single-vineyard, single-clone work on the Pálava limestone. This is not a wine that follows trends. It is quietly, stubbornly itself. That's exactly the kind of producer Kraft Wines exists to introduce to the UK.

Food. Grilled trout or sea bass, pan-fried scallops, soft-rind goat's cheese, white asparagus, light charcuterie. Equally good on its own with somewhere to sit.