Domaine Bott-Geyl Alsace Grand Cru Schoenenbourg Riesling 2019 (13.5% ABV) – 92
SR | Pure and intense on the nose, with iodine notes intertwined with intense and finely concentrated fruit aromas, opens this very complex and elegant 2019 Schoenenbourg. Lush and elegant on the palate, this is a round and pretty sweet but refined Riesling that will need decade or so to reduce its fruit in favor of the terroir character. The acidity and tannins are remarkably finely grained and the finish is not just aromatic and fruity but also saline and crystalline. A very promising Schoenenbourg in a demi-sec, yet not really moelleux, style. 93
AJ | A pale golden wine with golden glints. Warm and rich though quiet and contained, with some honeycomb here and ripe yellow summer fruits. Perfumed and graceful. Jasmine behind the fruits: lovely. Vivid, soft, expansive... though just a little tangy: not quite the creamy finesse of the baroque best or the sap and plant fire of the more reserved cohort. What you can't quibble with, though, is the sheer force of fruit here: splendid central palate depths, and very complex in a way that is hard to imagine in Schlossberg. A super wine. 92
AR | Starting to evolve in color to mid-gold; the same is true of the fragrance, which shows typical citrus and apple characters; the fruit is ripe and peachy in character, a total crowd-pleaser, with a degree of opulence derived from its peachy ripe fruit concentration and texture; it could be cloying if it weren't for the saving grace of an initial spritz on the tongue and a nice streak of juicy acidity holding it all in a well-balanced framework; this may be a tad too sweet for some, but I would hazard a a guess that it will give a lot of pleasure to 9 out of 10 wine drinkers. 91