- Nose: Deep and so Much Aromatic Flavor
- Rich Minerals, Smoked Slate
- Palate: A Rotating Mineral Toothbrush
- Audrey Hepburn Elegance like Expensive White Burgundy
- Lanolin, Melon and So Much Complexity
- Precise, Insanely Fresh and So, So Refined
- Super Mineral and Opulent
- 92-93+ Stephan Reinhardt, Wine Advocate
- Allocated/Very Limited
2017 Battenfeld Spanier Am Schwarzen en Hergott Auslese
- Nose: Drop Dead Gorgeous Nose of Deep Saffron and Apricot
- Tons of Unidentifiable Exotic Spices
- Vivid, Vivid, Gorgeous Detailed Fruit
- Peach, Perfect Pear
- Palate: Cracking Racy Character
- Divine Layers of Endless Depth
- Amazing Pineapple and Ripe Peach
- Scintillating Acids and Drop Dead Purity
- $53.99 for a 750 - Will Last for 20+ Years
2015 Battenfeld Spanier Frauenberg Auslese
- One of the Most Cerebral Dessert Wines I've Ever Had
- Nose: Incredibly Focused and Remarkably Intense
- Elegant Tropical Fruit, Gorgeous Apricot
- Huge Saffron and Earth
- Palate: Off the Charts Minerality for an Auslese
- Perfect Balance ... Perfect
- No Botrytus -So Clean
- Epic Thunderous Acids and Stunning Fruit Purity
- Finish is Almost Dry with Insane Finesse, Incredible Length
- $53.99 for a 750 - Will Last for 20+ Years
I've been banging the drum recently about Kühling-Gillot who we just picked up and then they got crazy scores and we had to offer a bunch of wines quickly. But the world has figured it out that Battenfeld Spanier is one of the top estates in the Rheinhessen and is also made by the same guy who makes 98-100 Point GG Riesling at Kühling-Gillot.
Demand is through the roof for these wines in Germany and the rest of Europe. Today's wines are all allocated and on one I've gotta be particularly cruel, but it's only because I need to see how much demand there is for the GG wine being sold today so I know how much to ask for in the 2020 vintage. I only have 60 bottles of the GG. And this wine has the roundness that Keller has and it's just the most insane drink me now but can age GG ever from Battenfeld Spanier. Reinhardt gave this 92-93+ but I gave it a 9.6 on Delectable. I have Frauenberg 9.8 and Herrgott a 9.5.
The 2019 Battenfeld Spanier Kirchenstuck Riesling Grosses Gewachs for $63.99 a bottle on a 2-pack is an extraordinary value and one of the best GGs we sell and 2019 is a benchmark wine. The 2019 trio of Riesling GG's from Battenfeld Spanier will go down in history like the 01 Donnhoff Spatlesen or the 2017 Brisset Red and White Burgundies. Or the 02 Willi Schaefer Auslesen. Legendary wines. All of them. The depth and complexity of the Battenfeld GGs in 2019 is unreal. It is the best vintage ever for these wines. 19s from Battenfeld are just insane.
Such a deep nose and so much aromatic flavor. Huge mirabelle plum, tangerine, citrus, huge spices and 
fruit skin. Confectionary, airy and heavenly. Complex and expansive. This has the roundness of Keller. Savory in the nose. Intense herbals and so, so deep. Earth. Rich minerals. Some smoked slate. Deep ocean like. The most perfect raw honey ever. Ocean air. Amazing. New nuances every 30 seconds. It's got lanolin, melon and just so much complexity it can't be called stable as it's always changing. What a nose. 9.6 on Delectable off the bat for the nose.
fruit skin. Confectionary, airy and heavenly. Complex and expansive. This has the roundness of Keller. Savory in the nose. Intense herbals and so, so deep. Earth. Rich minerals. Some smoked slate. Deep ocean like. The most perfect raw honey ever. Ocean air. Amazing. New nuances every 30 seconds. It's got lanolin, melon and just so much complexity it can't be called stable as it's always changing. What a nose. 9.6 on Delectable off the bat for the nose.
Rainer and white cherries on the palate but with superb minerality. Vibrating. Amazingly refined. So pure. So elegant. I mean this is crazy elegant then snaps with the sap on the finish. This is refined like Keller. Palate is dense but so lithe and has amazing inner mouth aromas where the minerality just guts your mouth. So precise, insanely fresh and so, so refined Super pure. Super ripe and yet so mineral. Chewy and so stunningly pure. Finish just dissipates. This is regal and aristocratic. The young prince has grown up to be a King! Extraordinary mid palate and then squeezes so much juicy fruit on finish. Then the minerality then cleans it all up. So so mineral. This wine used to be a wild child but now it is a mature person. Gorgeous. So juicy. Grand Cru all the way. The is so balanced and so pure it's crazy. Wow. A drink me now wine. Wow.
"The 2019 Hohen-Sülzen Kirchenstück Riesling GG is bright and precise on the purely chalky, delicately yeasty and lemon-scented nose. Full-bodied, pure, straight and salty on the palate, this is an elegant and juicy, very stimulating and almost easy-drinking Kirchenstück with remarkable finesse and vitality. It's not as dramatic as the Frauenberg or the Rieslings from the Zellertal, but an excellent Riesling for sure."
92-93+ Stephan Reinhardt, Wine Advocate
We all know that Battenfeld Spanier is famous for their dry wines. But those dry wines are great for a reason. They have incredible terroir and HO and his team work tirelessly to make sure that the fruit from those vineyards is perfect.
So if the dry wines from Battenfeld Spanier are made from that fruit and are world class, why wouldn't the dessert wines be world class?
Answer: they are.
Let's start off with the lead which is the 2017 Battenfeld Spanier Am Schwarzen en Hergott Auslese for $53.99 a bottle on the 3-pack. First of all you have to drink one of these young and go on a journey with it like I did. It's just a stunning bottle of Auslese and continues to convince me that 2017 for sweet German wine is the best vintage since 2001, until 2019 came along. Each Auslese I have experienced from the 2017 vintage is damn near magic. This one is leading the pack. It has that cracking racy character and divine layers of endless depth. It's got the one thing that I love in a good young Auslese. First it allows richness allied with finesse. Second it has extraordinary drinkability. Can't stop drinking it type of drinkability.
Drop dead gorgeous nose of deep saffron and apricot with so many other yet unidentifiable exotic spices. I smelled spices I can only imagine in a dream. Stuff I didn't even know existed. Just stunning. Vivid, vivid fruit. Peach, ripe pear that is just gorgeous and so detailed. A nose you can smell forever. Unforgettable.
Palate is incredibly rich and so so refined and tastes like Riesling icing. It has that unreal texture that makes 17 Auslese so so special. It is to die for. It is so, so decadent, yet racy, deep and so scintillating. Electric. Gorgeous. It is screaming for seared foie gras. Amazing pineapple and ripe peach with scintillating acids and drop dead purity and epic length. Amazing balance. Special. What a wine. I drank every sip. This will age for 20+ years and is a full 750ml bottle.
Up next is another stunning Auslese from Battenfeld Spanier. The 2015 Battenfeld Spanier Frauenberg Auslese for $53.99 a bottle on a 3-pack is a showstopper. One of the most serious and vinous auslesen I've ever had. Truly specatularly well made. A wow wine.
Nose is unbelievable. Incredibly elegant tropical fruit with gorgeous apricot and refined peach juice, huge saffron and earth. Remarkable intensity. This wine is obviously sweet, but it doesn't come off as such. Brilliant. Super pure and super clean nose. Many auslesen have that sweetness that sort of dominates the nose - this is not like that. The nose is like the nose on an elite level dry wine.
Palate has amazing acidity and freshness and the finish is almost dry with insane finesse and incredible length. Incredibly dense apricots - almost a high quality dried apricot. Perfect balance - really textbook winemaking. No botrytus on this - man this is clean. Very complex already but will gain more with time. Long echoing mineral, tropical and playful finish. Brilliant freshness and acidity echo on the finish. This will last 20+ years and is a 750ML bottle.
2019 Battenfeld Spanier Kirchenstuck Riesling GG - $65.99
($127.98 2-pack) (*Including tariff of $7.44)
2017 Battenfeld Spanier Am Schwarzen en Hergott Auslese - $55.99
($161.97 3-pack) (*Including tariff of $6.20)
2015 Battenfeld Spanier Frauenberg Auslese - $55.99
($161.97 3-pack) (*Including tariff of $6.20)
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