Schloss Johannisberg Goldlack Riesling Trocken 2022

(Rheingau; 100% Riesling; 1200 bottles; 33 months of aging in oak; 12.5% alcohol). There’s an enticing touch of Tutankhamun gold to this and there’s a step up in the intensity of the citrus and flint notes in comparison with the Orangelack in this exquisite and exciting wine from Schloss Johannisberg. It’s perhaps a little more essentially Riesling with fewer of the more tropical notes of the Orangelack cuvee and the slightly hint of the service station forecourt alongside the polished pebbles in a babbling brook. Almost a touch of damson skin and just a hint of its tannins. Incredibly vibrant, bright, fresh and crisp – rapier-like in its precision to the point where you feel you might cut your tongue on its vivid mineral-encrusted steely central spine. Lime and pink grapefruit and an almost electrical freshness.

• Reviewer Name: Colin Hay

Aromas of petrol, lychee and wild jasmine flowers with white pepper and dried thyme. Thick and unctuous, but so alive and really piercing - this makes you sit up and take notice. Utterly filling in every way, confident and shining, it has a wonderful viscosity to it, complex and captivating - honeyed with some bitter caramel and toasted edges but lovely bright, citrus acidity too. Sweet lemon and lime with some sugary peach and a salty, mineral touch to the finish that elongates the expression. I adore this - a wine you can’t help but fall in love with. First year conversion to organic. An overall hot and dry vintage with one of the hottest August’s in recent years although more rain fell than average in September and October bringing relief to the vines. The harvest started early on 22 September. Ageing on the lees for 24 months. 3.9g/L residual sugar. 7.6g/L acidity.

• Drinking Window: 2025 - 2055
• Reviewer Name: Georgina Hindle

The 2022 Riesling Schloss Johannisberg Goldlack is a dry wine to sit above the GG with extended aging on lees in the lowest, coolest part of the historic cellar. It has a shimmering golden hue and projects a supple, smooth coolness. A bigger glass and more air underline an ethereal lift of cooling chamomile and white flowers. The palate unfolds like cashmere, tender and weighty, yet not bearing down. Everything here is united. Rich yeast is merely creamy and lemony. All of this is slenderness, absolute calmness and vivid length. The 2022 is a different kind of Riesling that needs time and will reward it. (Bone-dry)

• Drinking Window: 2030 - 2060
• Reviewer Name: Anne Krebiehl MW