Riesling Rosalack Auslese 2016 Schloss Johannisberger

Professional reviews

Robert Parker (95)

The 2016 Rheingau Riesling Schloss Johannisberger Auslese "Rosalack" opens with a super clear, precise and piquant bouquet of candied pineapple and grapefruit aromas that are intermixed with lovely flinty-mineral and herbal-laced quartzite notes. On the palate, this is a precise and filigreed Auslese of great purity, finesse and elegance. This was picked at 104° Oechsle and bottled with 117 grams per liter of residual sugar (at 7.5% alcohol). It opens rich, round and lush on the palate but soon reveals its highly elegant and greatly balanced character. The salinity is very subtle and makes your mouth start watering only seconds after you have swallowed this aristocratic Riesling. This is another great effort by the Slovakian Stefan Doktor who seems (together with the technical CEO Marcel Szopa and cellar master Gerd Ritter) to be opening a new era at Schloss Johannisberg. Doktor explained to me that one part of the picking (which resulted in a total of 1,800 liters) was fermented in stainless steel and another one in oak. In the spring, the Johannisberg team decided to bottle only the stainless steel-fermented part due to its clear, precise, refined and linear Auslese character as well as the expression of the Johannisberg terroir. Total production: 600 liters. Since the berries were too juicy in 2016, neither a BA nor a TBA was produced.

BOW (8.75)