2017 Maximin Grunhauser Abtsberg GG 06 18
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Tasting notes
Apple seed, peach kernel and wet stone penetratingly and piquantly confront the nose, anticipating the borderline bitterness that prevails on the glossy palate. Certainly there is some tangy fruit juiciness, as well as stony, alkaline and pungently green herbal counterpoint, but the finish displays considerably less energy or clarity than that of the corresponding Herrenberg. (A couple of distinguished fellow critics in Europe have pegged the Abtsberg as superior precisely in terms of alleged precision and clarity.)
Critic scores
Jancis Robinson MW
Jancis Robinson MW
More reviews and scores
History tasted here. Very subtle; the opposite of brash, so many layers! Already a little evolution in evidence, but very refined and bone dry. A great combination given the coolness of the site. (JR)
Tasted at Mythos Mosel. A virtual walk through the meadow is rewarded with the fine fragrance of herbs and flowers. A delicate scent of apples and pears wafts across from a nearby orchard – or so the nose of the Abtsberg Grosses Gewächs will have you believe. Minerality is harder to smell, but easier to feel once it makes contact with your palate. There are certainly some fine flinty and smoky nuances, but they are behind the juicy expression of pear, melon and grapefruit. Elements of pith and peel add an almost medicinal piquancy. Still quite phenolic and with a slight astringency at this early stage, but these constituents provide a structure which assures long-term ageing potential. (MS)
A virtual walk through the meadow is rewarded with the fine fragrance of herbs and flowers, a delicate scent of apples and pears wafts across from a nearby orchard – or so the nose of the Abtsberg Grosses Gewächs will have you believe. Minerality is harder to smell, but easier to feel once it makes contact with your palate. There certainly are some fine flinty and smoky nuances, but they subordinate their contribution to the juicy expression of pear, melon and grapefruit, elements of pith and peel adding an almost medicinal piquancy. Still quite phenolic and with a slight astringency at this early stage, but these constituents provide a structure which assures long-term aging potential. (MS)