Weingut Emrich-Schonleber Monzinger Fruhlingsplatzchen Riesling Spatlese, Nahe, Germany

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The Schonleber 2008 Monzinger Fruhlingsplatzchen Riesling Spatlese comes largely from some upper-sections of that site, due at least in part to a case of man-influenced terroir: A lot more fine particulate matter was deposited here in connection with roadwork, which led to more moisture retention and higher botrytis incidence (normally favoring lower-lying sections), thus rendering the grapes most suitable for residually sweet wine. In fact, “suitable” hardly does justice to what we have here, and which also incorporates 200 evidently amazingly efficacious liters from the Rutsch (“slide” – which says it all!) vineyard that the Schonlebers decided represented too little wine to bottle separately. Cherry, almond extract, heliotrope, rowan, and honeysuckle rise alluringly and trance-inducingly from the glass; a creamy mixture of pear nectar, honey, vanilla, and cherry preserves fondles the palate; yet this displays the epitome of Riesling refreshment and transparence in a finish of spectacular perspicuity, with saline, stony and crystalline mineral suggestions shimmering through folds of fruit (including bright fresh lime) and wafting floral perfume. This impeccably-balanced Spatlese should age magnificently for two or more decades, and I can only second Schonleber’s own comments in that regard: This sort of balance – namely not only delicate but delicate in its sense of sweetness – makes for more pleasure in drinking it early, but also for better aging. And it hardly needs stating that this is a sensational value which – were it a dry wine – would be a significantly more expensive Grosses Gewachs. Werner and Frank Schonleber are another Nahe dream team whose amazing performance in 2007 has been equaled in 2008. “I wouldn’t call it a vintage with the emphasis on fruit,” says Werner Schonleber, “but rather on a pronounced, saline minerality. And there was no great selection of nobly sweet wine this year, because every three or four days it would rain at least a little bit.” He offers as “a very simple explanation” of this pronounced minerality the classic one adduced by growers (whether or not scientifically supportable) that the vines better “assimilate mineral stuff” when mild weather and plenty of moisture grease – as it were – the wheels of plant metabolism. And such vintages always boast measurably high levels of dry extract; the question remains, has that – as most growers believe – anything to do with their expression of flavors for which we feel compelled to employ mineral vocabulary?Importers: Sussex Wine Merchants, Moorestown, NJ; tel. (856) 608-9644; Dee Vine Wines, San Francisco, CA tel. (877) 389-9463

This is truly sensational Spätlese, with a pervasive scent of wild roses and reflects its terroir quality (quartzite, basalt, and red slate).