At once candied in its manifestations of pear, red raspberry, and lemon, and mysteriously oceanic and animal in nature, a December 21 2007 Monzinger Fruhlingsplatzchen Riesling Eiswein exhibits remarkable delicacy and lift on the palate, but finishes with something of a bifurcation of extreme, candied sweetness with sharp acidity. Schonleber is one of many growers to acknowledge that 2007 – perhaps more than anything due to the sheer length of time (in other contexts advantageous) that its grapes hung – was not a classic Eiswein year. Still, there is a lot of concentration and energy here, and this estate’s track record with Eiswein that proves fascinating to follow in bottle long-term is impressive. I would not, however, plan to open a bottle again before 2011.To say that Werner and son Frank Schonleber have been on a roll lately must count as an understatement (and that applies to 2008, too). Two heads are better than one, no doubt, plus the advantages of accumulated wisdom and acreage – the family is filling-in what was once a decidedly, in places depressingly patchy landscape by buying up prime parcels from retiring vintners – are obvious. The Schonlebers went over their vineyards in early October to pull out some botrytis that had already accumulated and to thin their crop, and began seriously harvesting Riesling after the 10th. The estate’s vines were largely spared savage but capricious hail that rained down on parts of the Fruhlingsplatzchen. Werner Schonleber draws a stylistic comparison with the 2002 vintage, which he convincingly demonstrated with several bottles.Imported by Sussex Wine Merchants, Moorestown, NJ; tel. (856) 608 9644; also imported by Dee Vine Wines, San Francisco, CA tel. (877) 389- 9463

Beautiful. Rich and concentrated, yet offset by a lightning intensity, this delivers pure flavors of honey, apricot, grapefruit and guava on a transparent structure. Terrific finish. Best from 2004 through 2020. 10 cases made, 1 cases imported.??–BS??Region: Germany / Nahe Select to Add