Wine Advisor
Emrich Schonleber, Mineral Riesling Trocken 2018
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Description
Tasting notes
Reviewed by: Stephan Reinhardt
The 2018 Riesling Trocken Mineral is clear and fresh on the flinty/mineral nose. Lush and round on the crystalline and elegant palate, this is a powerful and salty-mineral Riesling with concentrated stone fruit flavors, and it reflects the vintage as well as the stony terroir around the Halenberg. Elegant and fresh, even fine and piquant, but powerful. Tasted in July 2019.
Reviewed by: David Schildknecht
This is sourced to a significant degree from young vines in the top-notch Halenberg and Auf der Lay vineyards. It lives up to its name on the nose, evoking ocean breeze in its combination of alkalinity and salinity. Behind that, tangerine and lime deliver zesty pungency while a brothy sense of meat stock is reminiscent of Chablis, a comparison that has fit this bottling on more than one occasion. At around 13% alcohol, there is a fullness one does not usually expect with a Schönleber “Mineral” Riesling, but fortunately, neither heat nor heaviness. The finish comes off like a mouthwatering suffusion of mineral matter in a citrus and meat stock matrix.
About the Producer
1815"This time people were boasting of one of their local wines, called 'Monzinger'," noted Johann Wolfgang von Goethe in 1815. "They say it runs down the throat with such ease and pleasure, that you only realise its bewildering effect too late. 1960sUntil the 1960s, our estate was a mixed operation comprising agriculture, livestock and winegrowing. This form of diversification was common practice at a time when the risk of bad grape harvests (due to spring frosts, poor flowering, fungal diseases, etc.) was still very high. Only the most affluent families (often from industrialist backgrounds) could afford to grow wine and nothing else. 1965-1985From 1965 to 1985, Wilhelm Schönleber (a native Swabian from southern Germany), followed by son Werner Schönleber, turned the property into a purely winegrowing estate, expanding the vineyard area from approximately 2 to 10 hectares. With an increasing share of vineyard space devoted to Riesling and a continually improving portfolio of vineyard sites, the estate first made it onto the list of "Germany's top 100 wineries. Today the farm 20 hectares of vineyard. Riesling currently accounts for 85% of our vines, supplemented by Grauburgunder (Pinot Gris) and Weissburgunder (Pinot Blanc)
