Forstmeister Geltz-Zilliken – Rausch Riesling Spätlese
The 2021 Zilliken Rausch Riesling Spätlese is a fruit-sweet, graceful Riesling from the VDP.GROSSE LAGE of Saarburger Rausch. This delicately fruity, juicy, and enlivening Saar Riesling from the Forstmeister Geltz-Zilliken estate is lean and slender, full of minerality, and restrained in its fruit. It captivates with notes of smoky slate combined with vineyard peach, dried apricot, and candied mandarin. In a year where no Auslese was bottled, this Spätlese once again shows an impressive balance of sweetness and freshness. On the palate, it is pleasantly sweet and juicy, incredibly dense, with notes of lush peach and exotic fruit aromas returning. The long finish is marked by a surprising, minty freshness.
Rausch Riesling Spätlese 2021 – a wine and its values
- Origin: Wine from Germany
- Growing region: Mosel - formerly (Mosel, Saar, Ruwer)
- Site: VDP. Große Lage Rausch
- Grape variety: Riesling
- 7.5% Alcohol
- 72g/l Residual sugar
- 9.0g/l Acidity
- 92+ Points Mosel Fine Wines
- Falstaff Riesling Kabinett Trophy 2022 92+ Points (3rd place)
The long finish reveals the concentration of this Zilliken Riesling Spätlese and the potential it will conjure up over the course of its long journey. With a moderate alcohol content of 7.5% and its dense aromatics, the Zilliken Rausch Riesling Spätlese is a fine companion to aromatic, creamy dishes such as blue cheese or braised game in rich sauces. Even though this wine delights in its youth, it only truly reveals its full capabilities after 7–12 years of bottle aging. Mature Riesling Spätlesen from the Forstmeister Geltz-Zilliken estate are available in our cellar for comparison.
By the way, our cellar is cooled in summer and heated in winter by a geothermal heat pump powered by a photovoltaic system, ensuring the wine can mature optimally.
2021 – the vintage on the Saar
Dorothee Zilliken fondly remembers the icy winter of the 2021 vintage, as it allowed nature to rest. Vegetation awoke slowly in the cool spring. Fortunately, this meant the vines suffered no damage from the frost at the beginning of April, as they had not yet budded. The summer of 2021 was also rather cool, which required a great deal of work to maintain an airy canopy. However, 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 both Grosses Gewächs and noble sweet wines to be vinified from the great sites. The 2021 Saar Rieslings from the Forstmeister Geltz-Zilliken estate are elegant and classic, with a supreme degree of finesse and expressiveness.