Winemaker Notes
Slightly reserved on attack with delicate peach, citrus, passion fruit, herbs and physalis. Very mineral and wonderful pure on palate, with long lingering flavors and soft acidity. Well balanced and integrated.
Professional Ratings
-
James Suckling
This is like staring into a deep chasm, yet the discreet mirabelle fruit gives that austere, bone-dry style enough charm to make it really compelling. Enormous crushed-rock minerality, with delicate spice and just a hint of oak on the compact yet sleek palate. This is an uncompromising expression of the Rheingau’s “back to the roots” movement that reveals its greatness at the extremely long and precise finish. Drinkable now, but best from 2025.
-
Robert Parker's Wine Advocate
The 2020 Schloss Johannisberg Silberlack Riesling Trocken GG is intense but elegant on the nose that pairs woody nuances with ripe and concentrated fruits and ginger notes. Full-bodied, elegant and refined on the palate, this is a (still?) quite oaky Riesling with a dense and complex texture and a long, intense and saline yet slightly oaky and drying finish. Compared to my first impressions four years ago, the 2020 is currently in a valley and might take a few years before rising up again. Natural cork. Rating: 92+
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.