2019 Monzinger Halenberg Grosses Gewachs

Deep straw colour. Intense, pure, dry mineral Riesling nose. Really rather wild and broad with wild-flower notes. Really exuberant and much more expressive and open than the Frühlingsplätzchen. Gorgeous, long with layers of different flavours. Explosive. Already a massive pleasure with satisfying persistence. Really ripe fruit but not at all fat. Beautifully disciplined but with no shortage of refinement and fruit. (JR)

A bundle of brilliant contradictions make this exotic, smoky, very concentrated but also light-footed dry riesling a masterpiece. Very serious and complex finish that doesn\'t want to let go. Drink or hold.

Schönleber's 2019 Halenberg GG is ripe and intense on the nose and indicates a rich and powerful yet elegant and complex Riesling with darker tones and flinty aromas that become more evident with aeration, while the initially intense fruit aroma gets reduced. On the palate, this is a rich and textured, pretty juicy but structured Halenberg with fine tannins and a long and intense finish. Compared to the Frühlingsplätzchen, the Halenberg is always late in its development, but as in 2018, I tend to prefer the former from the 2019 vintage at least in its very youth. For now, the Halenberg seems to be very ripe and rich and is structured by tannins rather than the crystallinity of the terroir. Tasted as a sample in May 2020 and I’m already excited to learn how the wine will develop in the coming weeks.