Weingut Zilliken – Rausch Riesling Auslese 2021 – dense and creamy
The 2021 Zilliken Rausch Riesling Auslese is a fruit-sweet, graceful Riesling from the VDP.GROSSE LAGE Saarburger Rausch. The grapes grow on Devonian slate and diabase. Following a 100% manual harvest, the wine was aged in neutral Fuder casks. This very dense, extract-rich Saar Riesling from Weingut Forstmeister Geltz Zilliken, made from shriveled, hand-selected berries, impresses with exotic fruit aromas like pineapple, notes of dried fruit such as raisins, accompanied by orange blossom and tart grapefruit. The 2021 Zilliken Rausch Riesling Auslese is very dense and creamy, with a ripe acidity that provides invigoration. An almost weightless finish follows the incredible complexity of this great Auslese.
Rausch Auslese 2021 – a wine and its values
- 8% alcohol
- 97.8 g/l residual sugar
- 6.6 g/l acidity
Zilliken Riesling – award-winning
The long finish reveals the concentration of this Riesling Auslese. On the tongue, it feels weightless. With a moderate alcohol content of 8%, this Riesling Auslese is an ideal companion to game or foie gras terrines; when aged, it pairs well with spicy Asian dishes or desserts with dark chocolate. And, of course, with matured blue cheese or washed-rind cheese. Even though it is delightful when young, it only truly shows its full potential after 10–20 years of bottle aging. If you prefer that head start, you can also find aged Rieslings from Weingut Forstmeister Geltz Zilliken with us. Or you can practice patience, as the future of the Zilliken Riesling Auslese looks bright.
Incidentally, our cellar is cooled in the summer and warmed in the winter by a geothermal heat pump powered by a photovoltaic system, ensuring the wine can mature optimally.
The 2021 vintage on the Saar
Dorothee Zilliken fondly remembers the ice-cold winter of the 2021 vintage, as it gave nature the chance to rest. The vegetation awakened slowly during the cool spring. Fortunately, this meant the frost at the beginning of April caused no damage to the vines, as they had not yet budded. The summer of 2021 was also rather cool, which meant a great deal of work in maintaining an airy canopy. But this investment in grape quality paid off. After a beautiful late summer, the harvest began in good weather on October 11th and yielded healthy grapes, allowing for the vinification of both Grosses Gewächs and noble sweet wines from great sites. The 2021 Saar Rieslings from Weingut Forstmeister Geltz-Zilliken are elegant and classic, with the highest degree of nuance and expressiveness.