Picked between October 27 and November 3, the 2016 Rheingau Riesling Schloss Johannisberger Spatlese ”Grunlack” opens with a beguiling bouquet: stony and spicy-flinty on the coolish nose but also piquant with its tropical fruit and notes of lime blossoms. On the palate this is a generous and lush Riesling whose acidity is smooth but perfectly interwoven. This Grunlack drives me to lose my willpower. It is such a sensual and erotic but also highly elegant, piquant and salty Riesling Spatlese that I can’t spit. I don’t even have the discipline not to drink the whole bottle! I admit, this is my wine Venus: coming out of the Venus mountain (a rocky quartzite mountain here), alluring with piquant tropical fruit flavors, luring me in without letting me out. (Dec 2017)

This Grunlack (green-capped) bottling leads with scents and luscious juiciness of kiwi and honeydew melon, for a performance of unabashed fruitiness, but one well-supported by only modest sweetness. The feel is almost creamy; but zesty and bright hints of fresh lemon as well as a bite of raw ginger serve for stimulating counterpoint. The lusciously-lingering finish is bell-clear, buoyant as well as downright refreshing in a way that too-few contemporary Spatlesen are. (Aug 2019)