Rz 74,5 S 8,4 Alk 9,0% Vol.
Very pale gold. Huge flowery nose rivalling the finest Mosel wines, with a rather light body for a Rheingau wine, again reminiscent of the Mosel, no doubt in part thanks to the reasonably low alcohol content of 9% and the good acidity level. Very considerable spiciness as is typical of the best wines of Rauenthal, probably in part due to the spritzig (slightly effervescent) nature of the wine (probably because it was bottled early, a very good indicator for fruit and complexity in my opinion, and likely to eliminate bottle variation). Quite rich and sweet, tasting more like an auslese. In a blind tasting I might just have mistaken this for an Ürziger Würzgarten, high praise indeed coming from me. Very, very, good, and a very reasonable price of just €7.50. If you want the best of both the Mosel and the Rheingau, this is pretty much it.
May improve in a few years, but is extremely good young.
95/100
Mr. Russler sends wine direct to individual customers throughout Europe, and he also sends around 10 containers of wine to America each year.