2017 - Felseneck Riesling GG, Schafer-Frohlich

In no previous vintage has Felseneck found Stromberg breathing down its neck to the same degree; but Schäfer-Fröhlich’s flagship rises to the challenge and once again emerges with top honors. Penetratingly pungent but also hauntingly, bittersweetly-perfumed notes fill the nose: grapefruit, white currant, struck flint, violet and iris. The satiny but fundamentally firm, indeed, almost implacably dense palate presents a vibrantly tangy welter of citrus with crunchy tart berry and coriander seed, smoky, fusil and otherwise mineral nuances, and striking inner-mouth florality, all underlain by wet stone. Savor of fleur de sel improbably paired with bitter chocolate, adds to a mouthwatering, vibratory, dizzyingly complex finish that just won’t quit.