German wine mavens- tell me about this wine

My locker has some abandon wines that they raffle off-line for $20. Did I get some thing worth sharing or Tuesday night wine best drunk by myself? They opened a 90 auslese (Hattenheim Nussbrunnen) by the same producer and it was excellent but I don’t know about vintages or vineyards in Germany.

A very good producer, though I vaguely recall they went through a slump at some point. I bought a bunch of 2002 Ausleses of another bottling in 375ml that are first rate. I’d guess this will be excellent if well stored.

Personally, I enjoy drinking Tuesday night by myself, Le Montrachet. When available.

My money says that this should be an excellent bottle of wine, if perhaps fading a bit. Good producer, very good vineyard (significantly better than the Nussbrunnen), a pretty variable vintage, but a lot of very good sweeter wines. What’s the alcohol level like?

Thanks,

Zachary

10%

That would be my guess too. More terroir than sweetness at this stage, which is how I prefer my riesling.

I suspect from the label condition that this wine was brought over by Jon Rimmerman at Garagiste 10-12 years ago directly from the Schloss. My recollection was that the wines were proper and nice (not “rocking’) and a very good value

Maybe share for a lesser occasion?From the 1990s on, Schonborn was a terribly inconsistent producer, although still better than most of the big-name lordly estates in the Rheingau were during the 1990s.

While Schonborn initially appeared to have turned the corner in the 2009/2010 vintages IMHO, at least with their dry Rieslings, it was later revealed that the former manager Peter Barth illegally manipulated some wines during the late 2000s/early 2010s. (I would be very interested if anyone has the list of the wines that were confirmed to have been adulterated by Barth; I tried a link in a 2014 thread on Schonborn, and it no longer works.) Most of the Rieslings they made since 1990 were correct, although there were some exceptions, such as a 1996 Spätlese from Großlage Hochheimer Daubhaus in a liter bottle that was still going strong several years ago despite its lowly pedigree.

Rüdesheimer Berg Rottland is certainly a top-quality site, as the Rieslings from Leitz and Breuer will attest. The new owners of Schonborn will certainly have several other impressive parcels to work with; let’s hope they do them justice.

Just drink it as it is ready to go and let us know how it is.

Yup Garagiste:

This is about as obvious an offer as we can pass along to you. It qualifies for “deal of the year” status already but everyone knows I disdain labels like that - it’s just a great price on a great wine, cellared at the winery since bottling and labeled on your behalf only a few days ago. It has never moved since release and the freshness is about as stunning as you can imagine. This is a wine I bought a case of for myself.

Today’s offer is why a winery holds “library” wine to sell. When the wine has started to offer the type of complexity they wish to showcase (as a model of what they are capable of) - they release it. In this case, the Rudesheimer Berg Rottland Spatlese is their best foot forward, ready for consumption but in no hurry of decline (it has 10-20 more years of evolution ahead of it). They only problem? They forgot that winery cellared “library” wine is supposed to be marked up quite a bit - it’s something you can’t buy anywhere except in their cellar. In this case, they marked the wine up $1 over original release price in 1995. I’ll say that again “they marked the wine up $1 over original release price in 1995”. I probably don’t need to go on after that single statement but I will do so in brief…

Schloss Schonborn is like a grand gentleman of the Rheingau. They are a darling winery that does not play games or bow to critical influence. All they do is make some of the best Riesling of breed and class in the Rheingau and producers like Leitz owe a major debt of gratitude to their efforts. Their wines showcase the terroir of site-place and the power of the Rheingau with a crystalline hand and a style that moves toward the lighter scale of each pradikat (sugar) level. The winery hit on all cylinders in 1994, especially in this vineyard and the Hattenheimer Pfaffenberg and it will be apparent with one whiff.

Today’s wine, the 1994 Rudesheimer Berg Rottland Spatlese is nearing its peak drinking window - it is so good you will need a railing to lean against as you laugh yourself into oblivion that you paid $16.99 for it. When I compare the tarrif of this immensely aromatic, mint and soil flecked treat to the prices of 2005 German wine, I almost have to take a step back and wonder how they can sell THEIR BEST WINE, AGED FOR 12 YEARS AT THE WINERY FOR $16.99? After my third bottle, I stopped asking.

If you desire the most intense, aromatically layered and complex wines of the would for less than $20, I urge you to partake of as much of this still youthful and vibrant example of verve, nerve and masculinity that you can. The sugar has started to recede and the piquant and rocky nature of the extract has woven a web of interplay that is exotic and memorable. A simply amazing deal and a wine most of you could drink every night of the week.

VERY HIGHLY RECOMMENDED

ONE SHIPMENT ONLY directly form the winery cellar at this price:

1994 Schloss Schonborn Rudesheimer Berg Rottland Riesling Spatlese - $16.99

Thanks! You are quite the wine historian!!

And happy to say, 15-16 years after this note , that it right on, except I can’t believe it peak back then because it was fantastic and perfectly balanced now. A beautiful wine.

I got another of the Schloss Schoenberg pictured upthread and two of these; can anyone tell he about this?

My locker raffles off abandoned wines for $20 each
blind. Mostly Californian which I resell for the $20 there.

Bump

$20 for abandoned wine. That sounds fun.

IIRC the producer is no more.

1992 was an OK, but not terribly interesting vintage. Might surprise given the quality of the site, but I would strongly suggest drink up and have a backup.

Fun! Wish my storage place auctioned off bottles for $20!

Out of curiosity, when you say ‘abandoned’, are they from lockers that people didn’t pay for? Like…Storage Wars style (is that show still on??) ?

Yes, stopped paying, no response over a long time.

It’s likely a garsgiste late release like the other.

CT users seem to like–seems like a solid but not great Riesling.

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Thanks! Mine is a 1992, a lesser vintage so I’m told…

Oops, ignore my other note, my bad, this is the first wine I posted about.

I tasted this one, I’d give it a. 92! Could be an issue of storage, mine was freshly.