2010 - Saarburger Rausch Riesling Spatlese, Forstmeister Geltz Zilliken

The 2010 Saarburger Rausch Riesling Spatlese A.P. #8 leads with alkaline, crushed stone, smoky mineral notes sitting atop effusive mango, Persian melon, Rainier cherry, and pink grapefruit such as one would in a more typical Zilliken line-up come midway through the Auslesen (but wait ... this is midway through a bunch of Auslesen, really). While the transparently tropical and now shimmering underlying mineral motifs persist on the palate, now brown spice-tinged, this exhibits a levity and vivacity that such signals of advanced ripeness and botrytization probably will not have led you to expect. The long finish manages to both sooth and stimulate. Hauntingly alluring suggestions of rowan, heliotrope, lily, and almond extract well-up as you work this around in the mouth, and persist in the empty glass, still subtly shrouded by smoke. This rivetingly complex and seductive Spatlese should be worth following for three decades. Hanno and Dorothee Zilliken’s 2010 collection has served for some controversy in that they not only – like Schaefers in Graach – adopted the minority position that de-acidification should be to wine, not must, but also – in this respect unlike Schaefers – performed acid-adjustments throughout their residually sweet line-up. Not that the extreme nature of what they eventually bottled could possible fail in itself to raise eyebrows. To declare myself up front (not that this isn’t evident from my scores!): I found this year’s collection chez Zilliken utterly awesome and cannot imagine that somehow seeds of early decline or subsequent disappointment are harbored in any of these wines on account of their levels of acid having been trimmed from the perilous heights where nature had left them. The view is dizzying enough (as befits the name “Rausch”) at the altitudes Hanno Zilliken chose for these Rieslings’ flight paths. “It was the tiny, millerandaged berries with their thick skins and the extreme, protracted shriveling by wind and botrytis that ch

Bright aromas of apple blossom, lemon zest and sweet herbs. The delicate pineapple fruit is refined, salty and light in spite of the wine's density. Well-balanced and attractively spicy on the finish.