2007 Emrich-Schonleber - Monzinger Fruhlingsplatzchen Riesling Spatlese

The Schonleber 2007 Monzinger Fruhlingsplatzchen Riesling Spatlese smells of peaches, red raspberry, lemon, diverse flowers, and a hint of petrol. Oily and rich yet bright and refreshing on the palate, its persistent salinity adds to a sense of invigoration, and its residual sugar underscores the fruit character and creaminess of texture yet is scarcely noticeable in the wafting finish, where luscious honey, peach, and pit fruit distillates vie for attention. This luscious, superbly elegant, impeccably-balanced wine should be worth following for 15 or more years. To say that Werner and son Frank Schonleber have been on a roll lately must count as an understatement (and that applies to 2008, too). Two heads are better than one, no doubt, plus the advantages of accumulated wisdom and acreage – the family is filling-in what was once a decidedly, in places depressingly patchy landscape by buying up prime parcels from retiring vintners – are obvious. The Schonlebers went over their vineyards in early October to pull out some botrytis that had already accumulated and to thin their crop, and began seriously harvesting Riesling after the 10th. The estate’s vines were largely spared savage but capricious hail that rained down on parts of the Fruhlingsplatzchen. Werner Schonleber draws a stylistic comparison with the 2002 vintage, which he convincingly demonstrated with several bottles. Imported by Sussex Wine Merchants, Moorestown, NJ; tel. (856) 608 9644; also imported by Dee Vine Wines, San Francisco, CA tel. (877) 389- 9463