Emrich-Schonleber and why 2006 is amazing in the Nahe

I love Emrich-Schonleber wines and I have been loving the 2006 vintage. I liked the wines at the annual Rudi Wiest and Terry Thiese shows . . .well more at Rudi . . .but since I have gone to Germany to re-taste the vintage it is turning into, for me, my favorite vintage since 2001. Mosel and Nahe lead the pack but top estates from Baden and Franken to Rheinhessen made stunning wines. Combine the acidity of 2001, the rich dense fruit of 2003, and the pure clean botrytis + harmony of 2005 and you have an idea of what the 2006's are like. They have so much material but are balanced by zingy acidity. Dense does not even begin to describe the best efforts. Stick to top estates . . .which I always do anyway as there is some thrilling drinking ahead for the next 10-50 years depending on pradikat level.

This brings me to an absolutely breathtaking bottle of the 2006 Emrich-Schonleber Monziger Halenberg Spatlese enjoyed earlier this week. This had a great nose right out of the gates of dense citrus fruits, stone fruits and breezy minerality. Some beautiful floral aromas developed after some brief aeration. The real story here was on the palate. Just a classic '06 Nahe wine from a top grower. This was stuffed with fruit. All sorts of tropical fruits in, dare I say, a hedonistic style. This stuff is just so damn easy to drink. The acidity balances out all that tropical fruit and there seems to be a hint of the cleanest botrytis imaginable. Could be there . . .also could not be there. I asked Tim Frohlich at the Rudi Wiest tasting if Finish is long and the concentration is just surreal. Priced right too. Schonleber Spatlesen are priced below Donnhoff and above Schafer-Frohlich which is interesting as that is where they are about qualitatively although I find Schonleber a bit less cerebral than either Donnhoff or Schafer-Frohlich . . .but those three definetly rule the roost in the Nahe. These may be the best Nahe wines I have tasted since I have been tasting wine. I have tasted all three of these growers pretty extensively now in 2006 and they by far are the tightest three collections I have tasted with Schafer-Frohlich turning out the most startling wines of his career. I know I will be loading up on all three of these guys for 2006.