Weingut Josef Leitz
Rüdesheimer Berg Schloßberg Riesling Spätlese 2003
Rheingau White
The color says Beerenauslese and the finish says drink it tonight. Twenty-three years old and nearly out of runway.
Pour it blind and everybody guesses wrong. The color has gone deep gold, nearly amber, which on a Riesling suggests Beerenauslese at the very least, and one of us was prepared to argue for a TBA. It is a Spätlese. Honeysuckle, apricot and a marzipan note that turns up after five minutes and a swirl. It is neither especially sweet nor remotely syrupy. The one thing it lacks is acid. 2003 was the summer Europe cooked. Berg Schlossberg is the steepest and warmest slope in the Rheingau, and twenty-three years is not especially kind to a wine that started life short on acidity. The result is lovely, medium bodied, and over almost as soon as it starts. A treat rather than a benchmark, and a pleasure to drink now. Nobody should be holding one of these any longer.
