2015 - Monzinger Halenberg Riesling Auslese, Emrich-Schonleber

Picked on two days in late October, the 2015 Riesling Monzinger Halenberg Auslese is very clear and fresh on the precise, very well defined nose where pineapple, almond cake, flinty and herbal aromas are displayed. The precision is repeated on the palate, which is crystalline but also creamy due to the lush, ripe and bright fruit. The wine displays great finesse and lingering salinity, which is so typical for the Halenberg. This is a delicious, really stimulating Auslese. Total production: 600 liters.

Picked around the same time as the corresponding Spätlese, this doesn’t try to compete, but instead goes its own creamy, soothing way with a watercolor-like wash of ripe white peach and strawberry, honeydew and lime transparent to cooling herbal essences and underlying wet stone. A glaze of quince jelly points to the presence of very refined noble rot. The long, mouthwatering, umami-rich finish displays hints of browned butter and caramel without giving up the cooling sense of green herbal concentration of the refreshing juiciness of honeydew and lime.

Full bottle 1,255 g. 'The market doesn’t demand Auslese anymore', says Frank Schönleber, 'the wines were too big [n terms of ripeness not reclame] in the 1980s and 1990s. They were impressive but it was difficult to drink two glasses – they could be oily.' 80% botrytis. Will be <1% of production. Greenish straw. A little SO2 on the nose? Quite a bit of molten honey and lots of that Halenberg minerality on the finish. This definitely isn’t oily! Very fresh and elegant. (JR)