2019 - Saarburger Rausch Riesling GG, Forstmeister Geltz Zilliken

Tasted as a pretty clear and finished sample in April 2020, Zilliken's 2019 Rausch GG opens with a generously aromatic yet elegant and well balanced bouquet of fruit and slate aromas with a kiss of Traminer. Dense and mouthfilling on the palate, with a certain astringency on the finish, this is a pretty sweetish GG with elegance and texture. It is mouthfilling and salty-piquant on the crystalline finish.

Cherry and cherry pit feature forcefully on the nose and polished palate of the 2019 Riesling Saarburger Rausch Grosses Gewächs, which exhibits an appealing and striking combination of density with (at just 12% alcohol) buoyancy. Basil and marjoram lend cooling and subtly smoky accents en route to a finish of ample juiciness and mildly cheek-pinching stimulation. I wouldn’t have guessed this to be from the same vintage that at this address has otherwise resulted in so many fervidly ripe and lush expressions of Rausch Riesling.

Yellow fruit and spice are desirable aromas which I do associate with the Rausch, but a hint of butterscotch seems slightly less traditional. The same thing happens on the palate: the fruit is ripe and juicy, the acidity racy, minerality present with an animating salty expression. Maybe I am paranoid, but I also seem to detect a hint of vanilla. Oak? Surely not! (MS)