2012 Weingut Spreitzer, Riesling, Lenchen “Rosengarten” Grosses Gewächs, Rheingau Germany.
Spreitzer’s Grand Cru dry Rosengarten Riesling is simply beautiful, this crystalline and dreamscape inducing wine is remarkably detailed and elegant with purity and finesse. I adore the Rosengarten in 2012, and while all the Spreitzer wines rate high in this vintage, this Grosses Gewachs from Lenchen in the Rheingau is showing stunning form in it’s youth, Andreas and Bernd Spreitzer deserve high praise indeed for their fantastic efforts and craftsmanship in the cellar as well as nature in the vines, this really is special and heavenly Riesling. For sure the 2012 wines will go down as classic and they will age, and how, these wines have a long happy life ahead, especially this Rosengarten, it shows amazing delicacy and grace, but everything is there for glorious rewards to be found in a decade or so, if you have the patience of course, I certainly wish I could wait, but it would be difficult as this gorgeous wine just rocks even now. The 2012 Rosengarten Grand Cru from Spreitzer starts with a bouquet of citrus blossom, white rose petal, steely mineral and a touch of flint, this leads to a wondrous and refined palate of tangerine, kiwi, lime and green apple fruits with bright tang, wet stones, hints of brine and loamy earth notes. Look for gaining evolution from this dry beauty over the next few years in bottle with tropical essences and more stone fruit to come out, as they were just beginning to come forward with air, this wine changes and expands in the glass, this stuff is addictive and seductive from start to finish. This wine coming from Loam and Loess soils in distinct and very different from the wines of Rudesheim down river and has maybe a bit less ruggedness, spice or vigor, but even so it is full of vivid flavors, fruit and intensity, and of the two Grand cur (Grosses Gewachs) this is the more feminine and strikingly pretty, this wine certainly deserves lots of attention, I highly recommend grabbing some of the Spreitzer 2012 vintage wines, and without question this Rosengarten GG it is lovely and awesome, drink from 2016-2028.
($45 Est.) 95 Points, grapelive
