Wine Advisor
Emrich Schonleber, Monzinger Halenberg Riesling Groses Gewachs 2021
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Description
Tasting notes
Reviewed by: Stephan Reinhardt
The 2021 Halenberg Riesling GG is coolish, fresh, pure, extraordinarily deep and complex on the ripe and concentrated yet precise nose that reveals notes of crushed stones and iodine. Powerful, rich and complex on the palate, this is a full-bodied, dense and very intense Riesling with a concentrated fruit core and a firm (mineral) structure that holds and even uplifts this giant that a will develop into an iconic German Riesling over the years in the bottle. It is still tight and youthful but possibly the greatest Halenberg I have tasted in more than 20 years. Natural cork. 12.5% stated alcohol. Tasted at the domaine in August 2022.
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)
