Schloss Johannisberg
Grunlack Riesling Spatlese
Johannisberg
2020

The producer

The famous Schloss Johannisberg vineyards was planted in 1720, when Prince Abbot Constantine of Buttlar acquired the, then, Benedictine Abbey of Fulda and decided to plant Riesling.  As such, Schloss Johannisberg is, by many, considered the birthplace of Riesling, today producing some of the most prestigious wines, in the world, from this grape variety. At a recent annual wine auction in Eberbach Monasterry, a 100-year-old wine from Schloss Johannisberg sold for record price of €18,000.

The estate comprises 50 hectares of vineyards which face directly south, 182 metres above sea level, and with a 45 degrees inclination. North of estate are 300 hectares of forest, from which oak is used to make barrels used for winemaking. Underground the 900-year-old abbey cellar ‘Biblioteca Sunterranea’ holds about 25,000 bottles; the oldest are from 1748.  

Schloss Johannisberg names their cuvees by the colour of the seal, we currently list the ‘Rosalack’.

The wine

The Schloss Johannisberg Riesling Spätlese Grünlack (Green Seal) is a rich and fragrant Spätlese medium-sweet style of Riesling, with an exotic bouquet of pineapple, passion fruit and honeydew melon, complemented by ripe peachnotes. On the palate the initial sweetness and concentration of freshness is perfectly balanced by a juicy lemon acidity and long aftertaste.

We choose our wines based on a range of criteria (see how we choose our wines) of which critic scores is just one. Rather than simply highlight the best score to promote a wine, our average critic score is calculated from the scores provided by several respected wine critics, who we follow for specific regions. They do not represent all critic scores and, wherever possible, we try and give more weight to more recent reviews. Where appropriate we consider market-based scores like Global Wine Score or Wine Searcher Average scores.

As a rule, we look to offer wines that achieve a 92/100 average critic score or better and frankly a lot of very good wines simply don’t make the cut. As a high-end provider we want to reflect that positioning in the quality of wines we offer. Such wines are only a tiny fraction of those generally on offer in the market. We believe that an average score is a more conservative and representative approach, but it is still subjective and only offered as a guide to our customers, who will (and should) do their own research. We will add individual critic scores to our website in the future.