2016 Saarburger Rausch Auslese

This sole Auslese bottling of the present Zilliken collection is dominated by white peach, quince, grapefruit and lime. Like several of its siblings, it is marked by both animatingly bright citricity and creaminess of texture – though here, at least in the wine’s youthful state, the two are a bit at odds with each other. Glycerol conveys an oily feel here as well, and the citrus elements turn zesty and candied in the finish, yet all without sacrificing primary juiciness. “We had as good as no botrytis,” noted Zilliken. “We’re talking here principally about perfectly healthy grapes that were lightly desiccated.” A half-bottle with a bit left in it that had been open for two months came amazingly close in quality to freshly opened one. “I’ve been following this open bottle with some surprise myself,” observed Zilliken, adding by way of explanation that there hasn’t been any point in serving the rest of it since the wine was immediately sold out and he doesn’t want to frustrate his clientele. Here’s a bottling with which one should be patient, though I seriously doubt that it will ever deliver quite the complexity or superb balance exhibited by its two Spätlese siblings.

Stunning, pure fruit intensity on the nose, lifted by a lightly herbal quality and the minerality showing through in an aroma of stones even with all this fruit. Almost pineapple-like on the palate, yellow plum, ripe and fragrant. Much more orchard fruit than citrus and no less glorious for that. Intense and refreshing beauty and amazing length. There's pleasure already though much more complexity to come. (JH)

The white tea and delicate exotic fruit aromas on the nose could easily make you think this is a lightweight, but on the palate it is extremely powerful and rather lush so there\'s no doubt that this belongs in the big league. The finish is an exotic fruit supernova. Yes, you can drink it this evening, but this has many decades of aging potential!