Results for: "German Riesling Spatlese"

The passion fruit, mangosteen and wild strawberry aromas of this vibrant wine are divine. Extremely dynamic and brilliant on the sleek, barely medium-bodied palate. What beautiful zestiness in the very long, vibrant finish. Drink from release.

The 2024 Riesling Wehlener Sonnenuhr Spätlese presents wet slate first and foremost. All is imbued with tenderness that seemingly emanates from the ripest touch of lemon zest. Slenderness, brightness and freshness are key here. A lovely medium sweetness makes this eminently drinkable, absolutely elegant and so utterly fine. (Medium)(AK)

Very cool and elegant, but that sounds as if this is a lightweight, and in spite of the lightness of the body it has terrific concentration and wonderful salty minerality that electrifies the palate. Then, in the very long and dynamic finish it turns decisively dry. Drink from release.

This delicious Mosel Spatlese makes you wonder why the wines of this category are stubbornly unfashionable. Cool and herbal, with plenty of spring flower character, this is a beautifully crafted wine with great precision on the medium-bodied palate. Extremely long, refreshing and precise finish that’s crystal clear. The natural grape sweetness is already beautifully integrated and is therefore unobtrusive. Drink or hold.

The 2024 Riesling Elisenberger Spätlese was made without any botrytized fruit. A reductive funk defines the nose for now, but the wine underneath dances along on lovely, light feet. The palate delivers juicy peaches galore, bathing them in lemon and slate. It is so concentrated yet exquisitely svelte. What an incredibly animating Spätlese, with such verve and energy. The 2024 is zesty with a gorgeous echo of grapefruit and bergamot. (Sweet)(AK)

What a fantastic nose of fresh pineapple and ripe star fruit. Despite the concentration and juiciness on the medium-bodied palate, this stunning wine has a staggering delicacy that pulls you inexorably back to the glass. Fabulous finesse in the finish. Drink or hold.

The 2024 Riesling Brauneberger Juffer Spätlese mixes a subtle streak of lime with flinty reduction, pointing right away at raciness. The palate is stony and taut, but trembles with white and yellow peach at its core, framed by vivid zestiness. It is light, juicy and bright. The 2024 pirouettes across the palate in consummate fashion. If you told me this was a Kabinett, I'd believe you. It is so agile, fresh and zesty. The 2024 is unbelievably energetic and gorgeously balanced. It is deliciousness itself. (Medium)(AK)

Bid on this bottle of 2016 Carl Loewen Leiwener Laurentiuslay Riesling Spatlese Mosel (96JS, 91RP, 91VN). James Suckling: "A mind-blowing wine for this category that has enormous brilliance and succulence, but also a great mineral freshness that literally takes your breath away. How can you resist it now? Who is willing to wait 10, 20, 30 years for this? " (12/2017)

The 2004 Norheimer Kirschheck Riesling Spatlese offers a gorgeous aroma of honeysuckle, lime, cherry, and sweet florality, followed by a billowing, wafting array of similar ilk on a palate of utmost depth and polish. A finish featuring distilled cherry essence, flowers, smoky pungency and savory saltiness and shrimp shell minerality lays on the layers of flavor and clings like crazy. (DS)

The 2023 Riesling Brauneberger Juffer Auslese, made without botrytis, offers candied lemon and crushed yarrow on the nose. That candied lemon notion, with its fluid compact smoothness, takes over on the elegant flowing palate. A touch of candied orange colors the aromas with even more ripeness. This wine is beautifully concentrated, tingling with zestiness yet so supple and elegant.(AK)

The 2024 Riesling Norheimer Kirschheck Spätlese was made without any botrytis. This tingles and trembles with lemon. The palate brings deeper, more profound ripeness of redcurrant edged with peach. This is so detailed, fine, bright and exquisitely pure. Lightness itself is bottled here. The finish is utterly mouthwatering. (Medium)(AK)

Firm and focused, with an ample midpalate bursting with ripe peach, Golden Delicious apple and citrus. Less minerally today, with a touch of carbonic gas, so decant now or wait a few years. (BS)

The 2024 Riesling Wehlener Sonnenuhr Spätlese was made without any botrytis. The nose, however, flickers with peach above the essential slate and lemon notes. That lift and noblesse are so vivid. The palate is a picture of poise, elegance and slate stoniness that simply swallows the sugar. Its supremely precise and elegant core is alive with stone fruit tones. What a wonderful wine, with such synthesis and seamlessness. (Sweet)(AK)

The 2024 Riesling Graacher Himmelreich Spätlese offers a salty wet slate aroma with a savor reminiscent of lichen and citrus peel. All about it is precise, stony, linear, crystalline and bright. You almost forget that this is a Spätlese, as its sweetness and acidity seem to be bound absolutely to the sunken salty slate that makes the mouth water endlessly. The 2024 has brilliance, poise, absolute structure and very fine bones. The finish is full of lemon zest. (Medium)(AK)

Precisely balanced, with a rich texture surrounding notes of peach, grapefruit, red currant and vanilla custard. This is harmonious and picks up mineral and a lively cut on the finish. (BS)

The 2022 Riesling Brauneberger Juffer Sonnenuhr Spätlese opens with an airy, stony aspect, followed by lime and peach in a tart-sweet double-act that is totally mouth-watering. The distinctly sweet palate is enticingly edged with that lime acidity. The palate remains slender, taut, absolutely streamlined and very fine. Concentrated, citric, heightened, thrilling. (Sweet) (AK)

What an incredible interplay of golden fruit aromas and fantastic spicy complexity this enormously concentrated and creamy Mosel riesling has. Not analytically dry, but with spot-on balance, and everything is perfectly integrated on the medium-bodied palate. An extremely long, caressing finish makes you forget all your troubles. Ur alt means very old in German, and this wine comes from this producer’s oldest vines, planted pre-1910. Drink or hold.

Scents of red and black currant, musk melon, orange, pear, and herbal essences in the nose of Donnhoff's 2007 Schlossbockelheimer Kupfergrube Riesling Spatlese coalesce on the palate into an intense and almost electric core. A hint of caramel points to botrytis as does the spiciness that chimes in on a kaleidoscopic, high-definition finish. it's easy to see why Donnhoff relegates this site to the group whose talents lie in residually sweet rather than dry Riesling. And it's hard to imagine that with its wealth of acidity and extract and sense of sheer energy this will not remain exciting for a quarter century. I could have picked out an Auslese, but I didn't, remarks Donnhoff by way of at least in part explaining the amazing quality and sheer concentration on display here. (DS)

Shows delicacy and nuance. Vanilla, apricot, lime and a fireworks of mineral get a lift from the vibrant structure. Long and complex, with a gingerbread and mineral aftertaste. (BS)

A great Rheingau Spatlese with terrific concentration, but also wonderful balance and a barely off-dry palate. Ripe apricot and mandarin orange aromas, but nothing is a jot too much. Fantastic intensity at the very long, complete finish where there’s a twist of licorice. Drink or hold. Glass stopper.

A very classic Mosel riesling Spatlese that’s juicy and elegant. Only the volume from the natural grape sweetness lifts this up to just qualify as medium-bodied, so sleek is the underlying structure. Stacks of peach and citrus character, yet very precise and finely nuanced in the long finish. Vegan. Drink or hold.

Bid on this bottle of 1989 Hans Kramp Ayler Kupp Riesling Spätlese Saar. Known as one of the best vineyards in the Saar, Ayler Kupp produces produces fruity and racy Rieslings. Now retired, Hans Kramp produced traditional Rieslings. As such, this wine is more tense and lean than one might expect from a more modern-styled Spätlese.

Bid on this bottle of 2014 Dönnhoff Norheimer Kirschheck Riesling Spätlese Nahe (last of vintage) (92VN, 92WS). Vinous: "A head-turning nose of cherry and apple with their flowers incorporates intimations of mint and cress. This combination serves for a succulently fruity and coolingly herbal impression on the silky mid-palate that simultaneously invigorates thanks to nips of fruit pit, pips and cress. Prominent sweetness complements the wine’s effusive fruitiness while its piquant and incisive elements supply welcome contrast leading into a lusciously lingering finish. (DS)" (05/2016)

Very juicy and very animating, this is a beautiful riesling Spätlese that’s light years removed from the cliches for this category. I love the delicacy of this very concentrated, yet light-footed wine that delights and fascinates as it dances its way over your palate and off into the distance. Drink or hold.

A super-filigree Spatlese with great precision and delicacy on the barely medium-bodied palate that feels almost weightless in spite of the undeniable unfermented grape sweetness. Stunning succulence at the very long complete finish where there’s just a hint of caramel. Excellent aging potential. From organically grown grapes with Fair'n Green certification. Drink or hold.

Donnhoff’s 2006 Norheimer Kirschheck Riesling Spatlese smells beautifully of iris, cherry, lime, and honey. Juicy melon and cherry fruit are underlain by subtle salinity on a satin-textured palate, and this finishes with terrific refreshment, refinement, and lift – wafting, lilting as though its finish were yet another long inhalation. It’s true, I’m crazy for what Donnhoff does with this site, but the reason the wine’s quality is so often underestimated by other critical observers of the wine scene is because it is inherently delicate and doesn’t demand that you pay attention. Those who fail to attend will leave more for the rest of us. (DS)

Bid on this bottle of 2005 Dönnhoff Schlossböckelheimer Felsenberg Riesling Spätlese Nahe (94WS, 93JG, 91VN). Wine Spectator: "Shows delicacy and nuance. Vanilla, apricot, lime and a fireworks of mineral get a lift from the vibrant structure. Long and complex, with a gingerbread and mineral aftertaste. (BS)" (04/2007)

The 2003 Riesling Spatlese Norheimer Kirschheck was pristine. Its lovely floral, spicy aromas lead to an attractive, concentrated, deep core of red berries and minerals. Bravo to Helmut Donnhoff for this magical line-up! (PR)

Bid on this 4-bottle tasting lot; including 1 2007 Müller-Catoir Gimmeldinger Mandelgarten Riesling Spätlese Tröcken ((91-92JG), 92WE, 90RP), 1 2008 Muller-Catoir Haardter Bürgergarten Riesling Spätlese (94RP), 1 2008 Muller-Catoir Mussbacher Eselshaut Riesling Kabinett, and 1 2016 Muller-Catoir Haardt Muskateller Kabinett Trocken (dry) Pfalz.

Bid on this 5-bottle tasting lot; including 1 2005 Markus Molitor Zeltinger Sonnenuhr Riesling Auslese** (375ml), 1 2014 Markus Molitor Wehlener Sonnenuhr Riesling Kabinett #30 Gold Capsule, 1 2014 Markus Molitor Wehlener Sonnenuhr Riesling Spätlese #18 Gold Capsule, 1 2016 Markus Molitor Kinheimer Rosenberg Riesling Spätlese Green Capsule Mosel (94RP, 93JS, 91VN), and 1 2017 Markus Molitor Zeltinger Himmelreich Riesling Auslese ** #87 Gold Capsule. Of the 2016 Markus Molitor Kinheimer Rosenberg Riesling Spätlese Green Capsule Mosel, Wine Advocate writes: "Molitor's 2016 Riesling Kinheimer Rosenberg Spätlese (Green Capsule) offers a clear and very elegant nose with fine and intense but not overly aromatic fruit aromas. Lush and piquant on the delicate palate, with fine slate flavors, delicate tannins and a persistent mineral structure, this is a tensioned, firm and vibrant Spätlese of remarkable class... (SR)" (03/2018)

The 2024 Riesling Dhroner Hofberg Spätlese was harvested at 86 degrees of Oechsle. It is ripe but without botrytis. The nose is still shy, but the palate is already shimmering with shades of passion fruit, peach and tangerine. These notions are subtle and emanating from that profound core of gentle sweetness on the svelte, bright, elongated body. This wonderfully elegant Spätlese unites aromatic, ripe white peach with gorgeous grapefruit and lemon zestiness. The 2024 is totally elegant. (Sweet)(AK)

91 points Robert Parker's Wine Advocate: "The 2006 Schlossbockelheimer Felsenberg Riesling Spatlese delivers luscious, juicy ripe poached peach and red raspberries dusted with brown spices and pepper. Intense and faintly sweet-tart in character at this youthful stage, it lacks the clarity or levity of the Kirschheck, but certainly not the sheer length, which is saltier, smokier, sappier, spicier, and altogether more insistent. Not that this needs to try too hard to convince me either to take the next sip, or to revisit another bottle in a few years. It should have a good 15 years in it. From a quartzitic site along the Nahe at the edge of the city (and which might have been built-on had the municipal water supply not been located there, the reason also why it must be farmed organically)." (10/08) According to importer Terry Theise: "A serious, diligent wine with something to tell you. Pungent terroir gets your attention, and the ripe salty mid-palate keeps it; it’s more enveloping and chromatic than Kirschheck. Here the truth lies in the whole and not in the particular configuration of the pieces. But clearly important, this dispatch from the earth. How is it to speak if not here? Wines like these are like music made into water."