2020 Riesling Serriger Vogelsang Kabinett
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Tasting notes
The 2020 Riesling Serriger Vogelsang Kabinett is subtle on the nose, opening with smokier hints of slate that still clouds lemon and riper, juicier notions. It is on the palate that the full playfulness of that fruit becomes apparent: this is a Kabinett in a classic sense, off-dry rather than outright sweet, with tender notions of sweetish Mirabelle, citrus blossom and mandarin juice, encompassed by a stony, citric verve. Such lightness, such elegance, such poise, such brightness. The finish flickers with an overtone of pineapple, as befits the sunny 2020 vintage, but retains tone, tension and, above all, flavor..
Critic scores
Average Score
Anne Krebiehl MW, Vinous
James Suckling
More reviews and scores
Very fresh and delicate nose of an entire garden of herbs, yellow grapefruit and pomelo. Juicier than the nose suggested with stacks of white tree fruits and citrus zest freshness on the medium-bodied palate, this is a youthful and very elegant riesling for the 2020 vintage. Emphatically dry and long for this theoretically off-dry category, but also finely etched. This has just reached its best youthful drinking form, but the party has only just begun! Drink or hold.
Basket pressed and vinified in traditional oak and stainless steel, the 2020 Vogelsang Kabinett is pure, bright and fresh on the highly delicate and flinty nose that shows precise and elegant fruit intertwined with the serious, flinty minerality of the gray and red slate soils of the domaine plus coolish vegetal nuances of nettles and mint. Round and intense yet light and filigreed on the palate, this is a pure, lush and round yet also very mineral, beautifully playful and palate-tickling Kabinett with less reduction than Molitor's Kabinetts usually show at this early stage. The sweetness is discreet and counterpointed by the immense mineral and saline drive. The finish is spectacularly long and tensioned, extremely complex and stimulating even at this age. This classic Kabinett reminds me of finest Scharzhofberger Kabinetts from Egon Müller. It is straight, sustainably saline, aromatic and charming. 10.5% stated alcohol. Natural cork. Tasted at the domaine in September 2023
Muscular and graceful, on the nose this starts subtly then builds quickly towards intense and gripping flavours of crushed slate, white peach, lemongrass, quince, starfruit, lychee, green mango and oyster shell, by turns sharp and angular then opulent and fleshy with the barest hint of sweetness. Extremely elegant (the grapes for the kabinett are picked before the Grosse Lage to retain acidity, with the fermentation stopped to leave around 18g/l of residual sugar depending on vintage), with plenty of the textural precision that Molitor wines are known for. Structured but welcoming, this deserves to be taken notice of. Mainly stainless steel for ageing, with a touch of oak for 10 months.