Winemaker Notes
Brilliant light yellow with some green reflections. Aromas of white peach, fresh pineapple, green apple, nettle and sorrel. Well balanced on the palate with soft acidity, lovely sweetness and long citrus aftertaste.
Delicious with lobster, shrimp and spicy Thai-style dishes, as well as blue cheeses, creamy cheeses, fruit desserts and fresh fruit.
Professional Ratings
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James Suckling
The complex nose of sliced pear, white peach and white currant with delicate floral notes pulls you into this very juicy and vibrant Spatlese that leaps and bounds over your palate, in spite of the frank natural grape sweetness. Then comes the radical minerality at the very focused, long and pristine finish.
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Robert Parker's Wine Advocate
The 2021 Schloss Johannisberg Grünlack Riesling Spätlese is a pure, piquant and intensely aromatic yet refreshing and bright Rheingau classic from the bottom of the slope, even though the wine has an alpine character. On the palate, this is a pretty sweet yet piquant, precise and lush Spätlese with a cleansing and stimulating, saline and salivating finish. 8% stated alcohol with 89 grams per liter of residual sugar.
Riesling possesses a remarkable ability to reflect the character of wherever it is grown while still maintaining its identity. A regal variety of incredible purity and precision, this versatile grape can be just as enjoyable dry or sweet, young or old, still or sparkling and can age longer than nearly any other white variety. Somm Secret—Given how difficult it is to discern the level of sweetness in a Riesling from the label, here are some clues to find the dry ones. First, look for the world “trocken.” (“Halbtrocken” or “feinherb” mean off-dry.) Also a higher abv usually indicates a drier Riesling.
Practically one long and bucolic hillside along the northern bank of the Rhein River, the Rheingau stretches the entirety of the river’s east to west spread from Hocheim to Rüdesheim.
Variations in elevation, soil types, and proximity to the Rhine cause great diversity in Rheingau Riesling. Some of the better Rieslings in warmer years come from the cooler and breezier sites at higher elevations. In cooler years, sites closer to the river may perform better.
In the village of Rüdesheim, slopes are steep and soils are stony slate with quartzite; Rieslings are rich and spicy, intense in stone fruit and show depth and character with age. World class Rieslings come from farther east on the river through Geisenheim, Johannisberg, Winkel, Oestrich and past Erbach as well, where soils of loess, sand, and marl alternate. Long-living, floral-driven and mineral-rich Rieslings come from the best of these sites.
Rheingau growers became early activists in promoting the dry style of Riesling, low yields and the classification of top vineyards, or Erstes Gewächs (first growths). Proximity to the metropolitan markets of Mainz, Wiesbaden, and Frankfurt keeps Rheingau in high reputation. While dry wines are the style here, Rheingau isn’t short of some amazing Auslesen, Beerenauslesen, and Trockenbeerenauslesen.
Rheingau doesn’t mess with many other grapes—in fact 79% of its total area is dedicated to Riesling. But it produces some fine Pinot noir, especially concentrated in Assmannshausen, a bit farther west from Rüdesheim.