Riesling Spätlese

Riesling Spätlese Wines from Some of Germany’s Most Renowned Vineyards

Not only the terroir but also a variety of scents and taste impressions of the grapes can optimally transport Riesling. The potential hidden in the small Riesling berries is impressive every year. The enormous fruitiness that unfolds in the wine is amazing as well. Complex fruit flavours and mineral substances combined with delicate acidity and a low alcohol content is what gives fruity Riesling Spätlese wines their character. They are light and bright, never heavy or filling. Immersed in a subtle residual sweetness, the flavors taste juicy yet delicate, giving the wine both depth and complexity.

The Fascination of Riesling Spätlese

Riesling is the king of the grapes, and the kings of this world drank Riesling. No other grape variety is able to transport so many flavors with so little alcohol and so accurately reflect the terroir.

The Mosel, with its tributaries Saar and Ruwer, offers an incomparable Riesling style. The long-ripening period, due to the cooler climate, allows the Riesling vine to store far more aromas in its berries than elsewhere. The animating, lively acidity pairs perfectly with the fresh, elegant fruity sweetness. This delicate sweet-acid interplay with a salty minerality is one of a kind.

It All Starts in the Vineyard

The vineyard is the start of it all. The stony slate vineyards on the Mosel, Saar, and Ruwer are best suited for the production of fruity Riesling Spätlese wines. The Mosel’s impressive steep slope sites—like Erdener Treppchen, Piesporter Goldtröpfchen, or Ürziger Würzgarten are reliable guarantors for the ripening of Riesling grapes to the highest quality. The terroir of the imposing south-facing slopes on the Ruwer—such as Maximin Grünhäuser Abtsberg, Kaseler Nies´chen, or Eitelsbacher Karthäuserhofberg—give Riesling wines their legendary racy elegance and zestiness for their long journey through life.

Kanzemer Altenberg, Krettnacher Euchariusberg, and Ockfener Bockstein are vineyard sites on the Saar that established the worldwide reputation of German Riesling over a century ago. The most expensive Riesling wines were and are grown on the Saar, namely the fine fruity and nobly sweet Rieslings from the Scharzhofberg, which achieve dizzying prices at auctions and prove the value and international recognition of Saar Riesling.

A Journey into Riesling History

The 12th-century Benedictine Abbey located at Johannisberg wrote an important chapter in the history of Riesling. On 5 ha of vineyards, it already cultivated about 40,000 Riesling vines in 1720. In the following decades, it further promoted the expansion of Riesling vineyards. In 1775, Schloss Johannisberg accidentally discovered the value of noble rot from late-harvested Riesling. As the story goes, they were late harvesting the grapes that year and noble rot formed due to the dry warm weather until late in the year. The grapes affected by noble rot were picked separately. This second passing through the vineyard was the merit of the monks and the birth of Riesling Spätlese.

“The quality of the wine depends on the site but also on the late harvest,” —Johann Wolfgang von Goethe, 1814

In the first quarter of the 20th century, the fine fruity Riesling wines from the Mosel, Saar, and Ruwer were the most expensive and sought-after wines in the world. The prices were well above the famous Bordeaux wines, such as Château Palmer, Château Mouton Rothschild, or Château Haut-Brion.