Monzinger Halenberg, Riesling, Auslese, 2018
Bursting with bright sweet notes of fresh apricot, acacia honey and alphonso mango, there was around 30-40% botrytis in the blend this year, but it was exceptionally pure. “This was one of the very few vintages were you could pick the fresh botrytized berries and enjoy eating them, they were so perfectly shrivelled” Frank told us. The result is a hugely animated, lively Auslese of the finest order.
critic reviews
It would have been a waste, opined Schönleber, not to have done something with the impeccably clean but overripe and lightly desiccated grapes that informed this Auslese, and which would have added too much potential alcohol to the Grosses Gewächs. But there wasn’t much more juice in them than in those that had been set aside for BA and TBA – too little, in fact, for a proper day’s pressing – so subsequent incoming bunches that harbored a higher percentage of juicy grapes were added in. Peach, pear, orange and pineapple combine for an intense fresh-fruit concentrate at once luscious and tangy. The underlying feel is seductively silken, but orange zest and cinnamon lend invigorating sizzle. Mouthwatering salinity adds to the delights of a vibrant, ringingly clear finish.
The 2018 Halenberg Auslese is very clear, fresh and spicy on the pure and still reductive, honey-scented but very delicate nose. Lush and generous on the palate, this is a subtle, refined and very delicate Auslese with a long and salty-piquant finish. Excellent. Tasted in July 2019.