2018 Rausch Auslese Goldkapsel 05 19
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Tasting notes
Scents and flavors here pull strongly in a tropical direction, featuring mango, guava and Persian melon whose richness is modestly cut by the zesty side of candied pink grapefruit peel and the tangy element of glazed pineapple. The feel is seductively creamy, and although this elixir’s sheer viscosity is surely at least as high as that of the collection’s auctioned Spätlese and Auslese, there is an unsurpassed sense of levity and delicacy to this gold capsule Auslese. Influxes of salted caramel and florally perfumed honey enhance the multi-fruit concentration of a vibrantly, lusciously and mouthwateringly sustained finish. Hanno Zilliken is reminded by this wine of the corresponding Auslese in his vintage 1983 collection, the first I tasted from him and the one that first brought his estate international attention. I have not included “A.P. #5” as part of this wine’s name because, unusually given a vintage this rich in high-must-weight Zilliken elixirs, only one of them is labeled as Auslese Goldkapsel. There were in fact two casks designated as gold capsule Auslese, but the Zillikens felt that their contents were too similar to merit separate bottling.
Critic scores
Jancis Robinson MW
James Suckling
More reviews and scores
Lots of banana-skin and banoffee pie notes here, as well as ripe persimmon and poached pears. Impressive richness and sweetness really captivate on the palate, which is characterized by burnt-fruit flavors throughout and lots of caramel tart and creme brulee. Only towards the finish does the acidity make its way through the tightly locked fruit . Drink now or hold.
From single, hand-selected berries harvested in the second week of October, with legions of wasps that terrorized the pickers, the 2018 Rausch Auslese Gold Capsule (AP 5) is spicy and fresh, very clear and excitingly fine, with lemon notes intertwining with crystalline and precise slate aromas. On the palate, this is an incredibly clear, precise and piquant yet dense and concentrated Auslese with a long and still aromatic, salty-vital and stimulatingly grippy finish. Selected from 2.5 fuders. A fabulous wine with a weightless 143 grams per liter of residual sugar. Tasted in June 2019.
Massively sweet with a pungency and sweetness that all but hides the acidity. Really quite a triumph, though I’m not sure how you would drink this sweet-and-sour marvel, in which the elements are already reasonably integrated. (JR)