Schloss Johannisberg Goldlack Riesling Trocken 2019 750ml

Tasting this makes me feel like Goethe is just about to walk in the door! Self-confidently old-fashioned in the way that a 1920s Bentley car or an 1820s Breguet pocket watch is. Yes, you can analyze and note that there’s an oxidative side to it, but the combination of creaminess and silky bone-dryness is like nothing else I can think of. And below the waterline of direct perception is a gigantic structure that drives the mind-blowing finish! Matured for 30 months in neutral wooden casks. Drinkable now, but best from 2024.

From a single 1,200-liter barrel made from the domaine's own trees and aged on the lees for 30 months (of which six were on the full lees), the golden-yellow-colored 2019 Schloss Johannisberg Goldlack Riesling Trocken offers a deep, pure, intense and fleshy, classic Johannisberg bouquet with ripe Riesling berries and, from Zalto's Burgundy glass, beautifully ripe and intense fruit aromas intertwined with herbal and quartzite terroir notes that represent the less well known iron content of the red loam soils in the deeper layers of the Schloss Johannisberger grand cru. Full-bodied, very elegant, refined and clear on the palate, this is a powerful yet pure and balanced, salty, piquant and stringent, highly energetic and classy Riesling with fine tannin grip (intermingled with the lingering salinity) and discreet bitters on the rich and intense, very long aftertaste. This is a beautiful wine at rest after spending time in the nine-meter-deep cellar vaults of the historic domaine. Highly Impressive. 13% stated alcohol. Natural cork. Tasted in July 2022.