Winemaker Notes
Professional Ratings
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Robert Parker's Wine Advocate
The 2022 Zeltinger Schlossberg Riesling GG is beautifully clear, refined and flinty on the intense nose that is coolish and warm at the same time in terms of coolish slate and ripe Riesling aromas. Mouth-filling, round and generous on the palate yet also savory and saline, this is a dense and intense, very mineral, complex and firmly structured Riesling of exceptional class and complexity. This is another great 2022 dry Riesling from Selbach that is one of the rare Must Buys of the vintage. 12.5% stated alcohol. Natural cork. Tasted at the domaine in November 2023.
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James Suckling
Maybe some riesling freaks will be shocked but this GG really is a no-brainer because of its stunning peachy fruit. Very delicious already thanks to the wonderful interplay of concentrated fruit and elegant acidity, the delicate spritz of natural carbon dioxide accentuating the stony freshness at the long finish.
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Vinous
The 2022 Riesling Zeltinger Schlossberg GG is from the Braun parcel above a retaining wall on a southwest-facing part of the Schlossberg with good water availability. The nose slowly reveals lemon, a glint of passion fruit and a touch of hazelnut. The palate is smooth and rounded but guided by a pure and vivid line of ripest Amalfi lemon radiating throughout the wine, accentuating purity, texture and length. There is substance and body, but it is made with a light touch. (Dry)
Range: 91-93 -
Wine Spectator
Offers precision and depth, with zesty mineral and spice notes infusing a base of dried apricot, kumquat and citrus peel. A chamomile detail and floral lift add range midpalate, while the long, dry, mineral-rich finish stretches way out. Drink now through 2035.
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.
Following the Mosel River as it slithers and weaves dramatically through the Eifel Mountains in Germany’s far west, the Mosel wine region is considered by many as the source of the world’s finest and longest-lived Rieslings.
Mosel’s unique and unsurpassed combination of geography, geology and climate all combine together to make this true. Many of the Mosel’s best vineyard sites are on the steep south or southwest facing slopes, where vines receive up to ten times more sunlight, a very desirable condition in this cold climate region. Given how many twists and turns the Mosel River makes, it is not had to find a vineyard with this exposure. In fact, the Mosel’s breathtakingly steep slopes of rocky, slate-based soils straddle the riverbanks along its entire length. These rocky slate soils, as well as the river, retain and reflect heat back to the vineyards, a phenomenon that aids in the complete ripening of its grapes.
Riesling is by far the most important and prestigious grape of the Mosel, grown on approximately 60% of the region’s vineyard land—typically on the desirable sites that provide the best combination of sunlight, soil type and altitude. The best Mosel Rieslings—dry or sweet—express marked acidity, low alcohol, great purity and intensity with aromas and flavors of wet slate, citrus and stone fruit. With age, the wine’s color will become more golden and pleasing aromas of honey, dried apricot and sometimes petrol develop.
Other varieties planted in the Mosel include Müller-Thurgau, Spätburgunder (Pinot Noir) and Weissburgunder (Pinot Blanc), all performing quite well here.