8% alcohol
Everything about this wine is extraordinary: first the vineyard where it was grown, which is entirely surrounded by a 2.5 km long wall built by Cistercian monks around 700 years ago, and is solely owned by the Hessiche Staatsweingüter. Next the bottle, the top half of which is fluted, a design I haven't seen before. Even more unusual is the fact that it's made of green glass, more commonly seen on the Mosel....
The wine itself is pale gold, with a wonderful flowery nose equalling most Mosel wines, and a fairly light body, with excellent fruit and a slight spiciness, aided by the considerably spritzig nature, fairly high, fairly sharp acidity and low alcohol... I'm sure you see where I'm heading. Yes, this is a typical - no, actually this is a very superior Mosel wine, although it was grown in what is probably the most famous vineyard of the Rheingau. As I drank the first bottle, one thought came to me over and over again: in a blind tasting, where would I have guessed this wine was from? Eventually I settled on the Saar, probably one of Bert Simon's better wines from Serriger Würtzberg, which also often have a noticeable spiciness.
Very expensive for a German spätlese at €19.10, but very good indeed.
Will last for at least 10 years, but I'm not sure if it will really improve as it's so good young and fresh.
95/100. Stunningly good.
The Staatsweingüter send wine direct to individual customers here in Britain, and it seems throughout most of the world. Delivery to Britain is very cheap at €13.65 per case for 'express' delivery (5-6 days) or €10 approx for 'normal' delivey which takes around 8 days. They even give you a discount on orders over €500. I forgot to ask if they can send wine to individual customers in America, but they probably can: send them an email if you're interested.
www.weingut-kloster-eberbach.de