2014 Halgans Monzinger Riesling
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This is nothing new: it’s just the former Halenberg trocken stripped of its vineyard identification to suit VDP regulations. The nickname refers to the long-necked cranes that fly across this stretch of the Nahe on their autumn migration and from which the vineyard took its name, but the long neck as metaphor for a long finish seems not to have occurred to the Schönlebers until I pointed it out. And yes, this wine does demand a long neck to fully appreciate, offering succulent white peach wreathed in iris and tinged with raw almond on a creamy palate, against which plays a seemingly perpetual motion of crystalline and stony impingements, while sweet-saline savor of raw scallop prompts an eruption in the salivary glands. This texturally polished performance relies mostly on younger vines in the breezy upper sectors of the Halenberg, from which in future decades this Einzellage’s finest wines may well come. And as I have had several occasions to ask myself when I put down the glass of a recent Halenberg bottling: “How much finer can the Grosses Gewächs possibly turn out to be?!”
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Jancis Robinson MW
Stephan Reinhardt, Wine Advocate
More reviews and scores
Formerly named Monzinger Halenberg and sourced from a steep plot planted in 2007, the 2014 Riesling trocken Halgans displays an intense and smoky/stony bouquet with lovely slate and floral flavors, as well as ripe, concentrated white fruit and pineapple aromas. The wine is dense and compact on the palate, a perfect amalgam of fully ripe fruit and mineral flavors, with a ripe, elegant acidity and a powerful finish. Very promising wine.
The Halgans represents a diplomatic solution to not using the same vineyard name for different wines. It does come from the Halenberg, and cranes (Kranich, related to the species of geese, plural of Gans) have been spotted flying over the vineyard. On the nose this is all meadow with flowers, herbs and the odd apple tree. The palate delivers sweet apple, a touch of grapefruit and minerality pure. Sprinkle a delicate measure of herbs over the long finish and you have a dry Riesling at half price but nearly the same quality as a Grosses Gewächs. (MS)