2021 Monzinger Fruhlingsplatzchen Grosses Gewachs

While the nose initially delivers a bit of smoky, gunflint funk, the characteristic intense reduction that has long defined the Schäfer-Fröhlich style is significantly dialled back. What remains is simply a fine wildness of herbaceous notes, bread dough, floral aromas and preserved lemons. Supple and svelte with cool depth and just enough concentration to barely cover the stony core. A liquid reflection of the craggy cliffs in which the fruit grows. Crisp acidity around a ring of lime-laced salt. Racy, sleek and long. (PS)

From shallow red slate and very old vines, the 2021 Frühlingsplätzchen GG offers a bright and radiant bouquet with stony and herbal aromas intertwined with notes of crushed slate and Amalfi lemon zests. Crystalline and pure but also lush on the palate, this is a linear, precise and saline, crunchy and challenging Riesling with an extreme slate stamp, reduced fruit and charm but with the intensity and extract for long development. This firm, almost austere long-distance runner will reward our patience.

At once flinty and floral (spring blossoms), this is explosively young, the intensity building and building as this silver surfer rides over the palate. Razor-sharp finish that is blindingly intense. May be too much for some in this very youthful form, but we find it already very exciting. From organically grown grapes with Fair\'n Green certification. Drinkable now, but best from 2023.