Scharzhofberger Spatlese Riesling Nr18
⏳ Drinking Window
2025 - 2050
🍽️ Food & Wine Pairings
Spicy Asian dishes such as Thai curry, roasted duck with fruit-based glazes, and classic German apple tarts.
✨ Technical Specifications
The Scharzhofberg vineyard is one of the world's most revered white wine terroirs, situated on a steep, south-facing slope of weathered grey Devonian slate in the Saar valley, a cool-climate tributary of the Mosel. Owned in part by the legendary Egon Müller estate since 1797—following the secularization of church lands formerly held by the Benedictine Abbey of St. Paul in Trier—this vineyard yields Riesling of unparalleled tension and longevity. The Scharzhofberger Spätlese is crafted from 100% Riesling grapes, often partially affected by noble rot, and fermented in traditional old oak Fuder casks. This wine is celebrated for its breathtaking balance of natural residual sweetness, electric acidity, and profound slate-driven minerality, representing the pinnacle of traditional German winemaking.
🍾 About the Producer
Weingut Egon Müller-Scharzhof, established in 1797 following the secularization of monastic holdings along the Saar, stands as a paragon of classical German viticulture. Situated in Wiltingen within the cooler Mosel tributary corridor, the estate centers upon the world-renowned Scharzhofberg and Le Gallais' monopole parcel in Wiltinger Braune Kupp. These south-facing, steep amphitheaters feature weathered Devonian grey and red slate interspersed with quartzite and iron-rich veins. Viticulture follows traditional, sustainable principles emphasizing rigorous plow cultivation, absence of chemical fertilizers or herbicides, low yields, and preservation of centenarian ungrafted vines. Winemaker Egon Müller IV champions a purist, non-interventionist cellar ethos where wild yeasts, traditional neutral oak fuders, and unmanipulated fermentation dictate pace. Famed for benchmark Spätlese, Auslese, and celestial botrytized Prädikat bottlings—including world-record Trockenbeerenauslesen—the wines exude filigreed tension, soaring mineral salinity, ethereal residual sweetness, and virtually limitless longevity.