2020 Weingut Schafer-Frohlich, Riesling Trocken, Nahe, Germany.
Winemaker Tim Fröhlich has crafted a set of fantastic wines in this 2020 vintage from his estate in the Nahe region and his basic Riesling Trocken is truly outstanding and a top value, it comes from younger vines in some of his top sites, including the Grand Cru Felsnek (GG) vineyard. This dry and precision crafted Riesling was sourced from complex terroir influenced parcels set on a mix of soils, with mainly Porphyry, which is ancient volcanic, and classic blue Devoinian Slate, both of which allows crystalline and mineral driven flavors to burst from the glass. This 2020 vintage is racy and bone dry with loads of appealing fruit and a mouth watering salty stoniness with subtle floral aromatics and spicy notes on the gripping and steely palate that is led by lime, white peach, green apple fruits along with chamomile, verbena and a wet flinty element. I know I just reviewed a Schafer-Frohlich, but this all stainless steel fermented and aged Riesling really deserved some attention too, it delivers so much for the price I couldn’t wait to publish this one, so as to allow people to chase it down before it sells out.
Vigneron Tim Fröhlich, of Schafer-Frohlich, is widely known as a perfectionist and a hard working guy that never rests on his successes, he made his first vintage in 1995 at the age of 21, and has never looked back. The village of Bockenau, the winery’s location in the Nahe was close to being unknown until Tim’s wines achieved international success, with the wines now some of the most sought-after Rieslings in Germany. Schafer-Frohlich’s achievements is also a reflection of the greatness of the slate-based, quartzite-laced Felseneck VDP Grosse Lage in Bockenau, a truly amazing site with its steep slopes. Fröhlich, as mentioned, looks for extreme purity in his wines, and is a true terroir fanatic, according to his friends and admirers. He has a sublime touch and is hugely talented, capturing the essence of the place with precision, subtly and elegance in his outstanding wines, like this one. As noted and repeated, this vintage looks like an epic year to collect in Germany, and the fine dry examples from the Nahe are especially tasty for Riesling lovers, with Schafer-Frohlich being a winery to put on your wish list. The excellent estate Riesling Trocken can be enjoyed now and for the next 3 to 5 years, it offers lots of charm and quality for the savvy buyers and it is flexible enough to go with big range of cuisine choices.
($28 Est.) 92 Points, grapelive