Monzinger Halenberg, Riesling, Spätlese, 2017
Richer and more palate coating than the Fruhlingsplatzen, with ripe red apple and firm slate notes at its core surrounded by a creamy, rich layer of extract and fleshy fruit pulp.
critic reviews
Schonleber's 2017 Halenberg Riesling Spatlese is deep, ripe and concentrated on the nose, which indicates a certain creaminess and possibly also botrytis infection. Lush and intense on the palate, this is a sweet and fleshy, well-concentrated and compact, slightly bitter Spatlese with nice and young mineral grip on the tight finish. The 2017 is more generous and creamier but less precise and crystalline than the 2018, which I tasted side by side in August 2019.
White peach and red raspberry are signaled already on the penetrating nose; then take on both lightly confitured as well as fresh fruit aspects on the glossy palate. There is a heady, gardenia-like garland. Prominent sweetness is largely checked by a tart, crunchy berry edge along with a welcome, bright influx of juicy lime. Perfumed and fruit elements dominate in the lusciously-lingering finish. Intriguingly, this displays less of a mineral dimension than does its Frühlingsplätzchen counterpart, which is the opposite of what one would expect given the typical performances of these two sites in the dry wine realm.