2017 Scharzhofberger Spatlese
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Tasting notes
There is just this one vintage 2017 Müller Scharzhofberger Spätlese, and it reflects formidable botrytis influence via a combination of dried fruit concentration, singed-edge smokiness, honeyed richness and an oily, almost plush texture. Happily, a lusciously fresh layer of white peach and apple is also present, and as with so many other top exemplars of this site, particularly in 2017, there is an invigorating bite of pepper cress curiously but delightfully allied with cooling mintiness. The acids here – at eleven grams, the highest in this collection save for the T.B.A. – are pitted against residual sugar and buffered by dry extract to the point where tingling tartness or bright citricity are absent, yet their effect is felt in the sheer penetration and vibratory sense of energy conveyed on the wine’s prodigious, strikingly undulating finish. “For me,” remarked Veronika Lintner, “this Spätlese encapsulates the 2017 vintage.” It does the best of it, anyway.
Critic scores
Average Score
Stephan Reinhardt, Wine Advocate
David Schildknecht, Vinous
More reviews and scores
The 2017 Scharzhofberger Spätlese AP #6 offers a clear, fine, beautifully ripe and concentrated—though currently pretty closed—bouquet that is still covered by sulfites. Crystalline and mouthfillingly lush and round on the palate, this is a very refined, frisky and playful Riesling with enormous finesse and dancing feather weight on the palate. There are delicate raisin and slate flavors in the aftertaste. This Spätlese has around 71 grams of residual sugar, yet you don’t taste that much of it.
About the producer
Egon Müller is the most famous name in Riesling. The estate produces the world’s most expensive sweet white wines from the Grand Cru Scharzhofberg vineyard in Mosel, Germany.