2018 Maximin Grunhauser Abtsberg Beerenauslese

Pear and apricot preserves signal already in the nose a significant influx of botrytis and indeed intimate Esszencia-like concentration. Confitured fruit dominates on the palate as well, but this elixir’s sheer sense of sweetness is by no means excessive, evidently held in check by its high acidity and extract. There is great delicacy to accompany creaminess and viscosity, and the lusciously, soothingly-lingering finish evinces a delightful sense of buoyancy. The empty glass practically explodes with floral essences as well as with pear and apricot, all of this with the ethereal intensity of a distillate but without outright volatility, and accompanied by hauntingly bready, truffly and honeyed expressions of noble rot. Here is an instance where I would refrain from even taking a peak at the wine anytime soon, given its price and the promise of that empty glass that there is so much more to come on the palate, too, if one is patient. (375 ml)

The first release of 2018 Beerenauslese here (they have two more BA to come and four TBA wines still fermenting), this is a rare wine as it was a harvest of totally clean fruit without any botrytis, something that is historically possible only two or three times in a century. The nose has intense, essence-like citrus fruit with aromas of nutmeg-dusted, poached pears and sliced ripe mangoes. The flavors of fresh ripe peaches, mangoes, lemons and chamomile are delivered in such strikingly pure and elegant style with some gently creamy flavors glazing the finish. So youthful and so balanced, this really is something special. Pure velvet. Drink over two or three decades, easily.

The 2018 Maximin Grünhaus Abtsberg Riesling Beerenauslese offers an exotic and concentrated bouquet with a very fine and spicy botrytis note intermixed with citrus fruit aromas and a touch of oak even though this wine has never seen any wood except for the forests in the Ruwer Valley. The palate is lush, nobly elegant and highly finessed, and it's even mineral on the long and tensioned finish with stimulating salinity. This is highly digestible and elegant but just one of up to six potential BAs that are still fermenting. Tasted from AP 30 19 in June 2019.