2020 Riesling Spätlese Grünlack, Schloss Johannisberg
2020 Riesling Spätlese Grünlack, Schloss Johannisberg
Ref: JOHA200
Few wine enthusiasts realize that with every sip of Riesling from Schloss Johannisberg, they are enjoying the legacy of nearly 1,200 years of history. The ?rst documented wine harvest was in A.D. 817. Louis the Pious was delighted with the 6,000 litres of wine from the vines on the hill, then known as Bischofsberg (bishop’s hill). It was around three hundred years later in about 1100 that the ?rst Benedictine monastery in the Rheingau was founded on the hilltop with the monks diligently tending to the vines on the slopes below. In 1130 their abbey church was consecrated in honour of John the Baptist, after which the hill, the monastery and the village assumed the name Johannisberg (John’s hill). It was then several centuries later, in 1716, that the Prince-Abbot of Fulda had the monastery torn down and a Baroque palace built in its place, retaining parts of the 900 year old cellar. Between 1719 and 1720 the vineyards underwent a complete renovation during which time 294,000 Riesling vines were planted.
Schloss Johannisberg has been responsible for the creation a number of different German wine styles but most importantly was spätlese – History has it that in 1775, a courier who was annually sent to Fulda to receive official permission for the start of the grape harvest was delayed by several weeks. By the time he returned to Johannisberg, the grapes were infested with noble rot. Nevertheless, the courageous cellarmaster at the time, had the rotten grapes harvested and vinified, thereby producing a new style of wine which thereafter became standard at Johannisberg. Although documents from 1730 report that a few growers “gladly waited for a bit of noble rot in order to increase the sugar level of the grapes,” the year 1775 marked the beginning of a deliberately scheduled late harvest of botrytised grapes.
Wine Details
Wine Details
Producer: Schloss Johannisberg
Old/New World: 
Country: 
Region: 
Colour: 
Style: 
% ABV: 9%
Drink Dates: 2022-2035
Maturity: 
Sweetness: 2
Grape Variety: Tasting Notes
Tasting Notes
“Very cool and reserved at the front, but this is an enormously deep and complex wine that has staggering mineral intensity. The lime and oolong-tea freshness effortlessly swallows up the unfermented grape sweetness, as if it didn’t really exist. Some will criticize, saying that this is too radical, but that’s what creates the great excitement! The herbal freshness at the finish is really astounding. Drinkable now, but best from 2023. 99/100.” Stuart Piggott
Sweetness Explained
Sweetness Explained
Sweetness
All our wines are given a Sweetness Indicator from 1 to 5, with 1 being the driest and 5 being the sweetest.
This can be found for every wine under the Wine Details tab.
Most red wines are dry and therefore are indicated with a 1. The sweetness becomes more relevant with white wines, sparkling wines and pudding/dessert wines such as Sauternes and Tokaji.
Location Explained
Location Explained
Location
AVAILABLE: Currently lying in our storage at London City Bond Dinton Woods
The wine can be dispatched immediately.
TO ARRIVE: Currently lying abroad or in transit
When the wine arrives in the UK, we will contact you to confirm that it has been dispatched in accordance with your instructions. If the arrival date is important to you, please do contact us for further information.
Pricing Information
Pricing Information
Pricing
UNDER BOND PRICES: Exclusive of UK Duty & VAT
Wines can be purchased Under Bond for storage in a bonded warehouse, or for export.
Duty and VAT must be paid before delivery to a UK address can take place.
DUTY PAID PRICES: Inclusive of UK Duty & VAT
Wines for UK delivery can only be purchased Duty Paid.
Additional Information
A majority of our wines are sold under bond and are listed with under bond pricing; a duty paid equivalent price is shown underneath on the Wine Details page, purely for illustrative purposes.
If a wine is being listed duty paid, only the duty paid price is shown. Duty Paid wines have been removed from Bonded Storage and cannot be returned to an Under Bond status. They can be stored in a professional warehouse but will be stored Duty Paid.
