Winemaker Notes
Brilliant light yellow. The nose is pure with lovely herbal notes, lemon grass, physalis and a hint of wild strawberries. The palate is fresh and juicy with delicate, creamy texture, elegant fruit and long, mineral finish.
Well-matched with salads, seafood and light chicken dishes.
Professional Ratings
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James Suckling
A cool and distinguished riesling Kabinett with aromas of red apples, vineyard peaches and red forest berries. Sleek and very focused on the barely medium-bodied palate. I love the way the stony acidity really shines at the long and crystalline finish. From organically grown grapes. Drink or hold.
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Robert Parker's Wine Advocate
The 2023 Schloss Johannisberg Rotlack Riesling Kabinett is clear and fruity on the upfront nose that indicates ripe, intense and elegant fruit intertwined with deep and flinty/spicy terroir notes. Medium to full-bodied, intense and savory on the palate, this is a lush and quite intense, complex, if not powerful, and seriously structured Kabinett with the generosity and tension of the vintage and also its savory acidity (8.6 grams per liter). 11% stated alcohol. Natural cork.
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Vinous
The 2023 Riesling Schloss Johannisberg Rotlack Kabinett was picked in the Oberberg parcel, the uppermost of the Johannisberg slope. It was made in stainless steel only, and one-third of the wine received skin contact. Mossy, fern-like savor blends with citrus peel on the nose before white peach comes in. The palate also has this wonderfully zesty, aromatic nature and frames its merely off-dry sweetness with a tea-like edge and the slightest film of gentle phenolics. Beautiful, crunchy, structured and off-dry, it stands 24 g/L of sweetness against a lovely 8.6 g/L of acidity. (Off-dry)
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.