Schloss Vollrads Rheingau Riesling Auslese 2019 (Half Bottle)

Schloss Vollrads Rheingau Riesling Auslese

Region: Vollrads, Rheingau, Germany

Vintage: 2019

Bottle size: 37.5cl

Grape: Riesling

ABV: 17%

Notes: Vegetarian; Vegan

Light gold in colour. This wine has outstanding ageing potential with vibrant aromas of fresh peach, quince and apple on the nose. The palate reveals notes of crunchy pineapple and caramel, with sweetness tempered by mouthwatering acidity.

Fruit for the Schloss Vollrads Auslese is selected from the two monopole Grand Cru vineyards, Schloss Vollrads Schlossberg and Schloss Vollrads Greiffenberg, close to the castle at the very end of the harvest. The soils of both sites are characterised by calcareous loess, Taunus quartzite, clay slate and strong loamy soil. The vineyard slopes are all south facing, meaning they receive the best exposure to the sun. With its hilly forests, the Taunus Mountain offers protection from the north winds and creates the ideal conditions for ripening grapes.

The grapes were carefully picked and sorted by hand and only fully-ripened, healthy grapes, with a must-weight higher than 95° degrees at the point of harvest were selected, as only they can be used to make an "Auslese" wine. A short maceration was carried out prior to fermentation. Fermentation with selected yeasts took place over three weeks in stainless steel tanks at a temperature of 18ºC. This was followed by a short lees ageing, filtering, and bottling.

Schloss Vollrads, with nearly 800 years of viticulture experience, is one of the oldest wine estates in the world. The vineyards are located in the heart of the Rheingau, where the quality of Riesling is unsurpassed by any other region in the world. In 1728, the world's first Kabinett was produced at Schloss Vollrads and, 300 years on, the estate is still going from strength to strength under the watchful eye of Rowald Hepp and his winemaker Ralph Herke. The estate now has 81 hectares of Riesling vineyards.