Maximin Grünhäuser Abtsberg Spatlese, Maximin Grünhaus - Weingut der Familie von Schubert 2019

The 2019 Maximin Grünhaus Riesling Abtsberg Spätlese is fresh and stony on the nose—almost greenish—and, in any case, terribly pure, fresh and precise, with flinty notes of crushed stones and also perfectly ripe tropical fruit aromas that come out with a bit of aeration. Mouthfillingly round and generous but also precise, fresh and finessed on the palate, this is a picture-book Spätlese that has more of a creamy texture than the more-crystalline Herrenberg Kabinett. The finish is concentrated and juicy, very aromatic and piquant. Tasted as a sample in April 2020.

The 2019er Maximin Grünhäuser Abtsberg Riesling Spätlese was fermented down to fully sweet levels of residual sugar. This yellow-colored wine offers a backward nose made of apricot, lemon, grapefruit, pear, and vineyard peach, all wrapped into some reductive notes of wet stone, slate, and smoke. It is delicately creamy and superbly finely chiseled on the palate, and leaves a multi-layered feel of ripe yellow orchard fruits in the long and suave and delicately fruity-sweet finish. This combines the intensity of a light Auslese with the juicy drinking abilities of a gorgeous Spätlese. There is quite some upside here as the sweetness will recede and the wine will develop its multi-layered nuances. 2029-2049 (Reprint from Mosel Fine Wines Issue No 51 – May 2020)