Schloss Johannisberg - Goldlack Trocken - Rheingau 2021

Vinous

byAnne Krebiehl MWthe2/28/2025

The 2021 Riesling Schloss Johannisberg Goldlack is Johannsiberg's wine positioned above the GG. Made in limited quantity, it spent 30 months in wood. The merest touch of beeswax appears initially, almost with a hint of speculoos biscuit spice on the nose. The palate is a marvel, absolutely fluid in texture and slender but with absolute concentration. this has density but no weight. Texturally, this is different from other Rieslings, calmer and quieter, but with no less intent or direction. On the contrary, it conquers quietly but completely. The malolactic fermentation delivers a mellow finish that is deceptive, since the final acidity in this dry wine still reached an exciting 8.2 g/L. (Bone-dry)

Wine Advocate

96

byStephan Reinhardtthe10/31/2024

Sourced in the south/southwest-exposed lieux-dits Urban-Wingert, Langenberg and Mäuerchen Quer and sold exclusively via the Place de Bordeaux, the intensely yellow-colored 2021 Schloss Johannisberg Goldlack Riesling Trocken (not the GG Silberlack) represents the qualitative top of the dry Rieslings of the winery. After the manual harvest of the berries during the first nine days of October and after 48 hours of maceration, the must was gently pressed and fermented in 1,200-liter oak stücks made from the family's own forest and a few smaller barrels. The wine matured for 24 months on the fine lees in the nine-meter-deep Bibliotheca Subterranea cellar at 10.5 degrees Celsius before being bottled in February 2024. Coming from a cooler and rainier year, the 2021 offers a deep, pure, intense and elegant nose of ripe yellow fruits but also black and blue berries intertwined with yeasty and flinty notes and nuances of heath and mint. Full-bodied, intense and saline on the palate, this is a distinctively ripe and juicy as well as mineral, very elegant and savory, intense and seriously structured dry Riesling with a very long, complex and aromatic as well as finely tannic and lemon-bitter finish. It has remarkable acidity (of 8.2 grams per liter). 13% stated alcohol. Natural cork. Tasted in early July and again at the domaine at the end of August 2024. The wine will be available from 21 October of this year, and it is best served in a wide Burgundy or Bordeaux glass, where its intensity is even more intensified and its texture significantly smoother.
96+

The Drinks Business

96

byColin Haythe8/31/2024

(Rheingau; 100% Riesling; 1200 bottles). This is rather different. A little more oxidative at least aromatically. Creamier too in texture. Raisins; grapefruit and its zest; quince; crab apple; a little gooseberry. Incredibly vertical, with all the lift of an interstellar rocket, intensely crunchy and fresh – like biting into a Granny Smith but to find an even more acidic fruit juice – quince perhaps. A hint of iodine too. In short, great complexity albeit in an as yet not entirely resolved form – this needs a certain patience. Pure; fine; refined; very linear. Impressive, if still very much in its infancy, and dancing on the limit in terms of its acidity – but that’s perhaps what I love about this the most.

Vinous

97

byAnne Krebiehl MWthe8/1/2024

The 2021 Riesling Schloss Johannisberg Goldlack is Johannsiberg's wine positioned above the GG. Made in limited quantity, it spent 30 months in wood. The merest touch of beeswax appears initially, almost with a hint of speculoos biscuit spice on the nose. The palate is a marvel, absolutely fluid in texture and slender but with absolute concentration. this has density but no weight. Texturally, this is different from other Rieslings, calmer and quieter, but with no less intent or direction. On the contrary, it conquers quietly but completely. The malolactic fermentation delivers a mellow finish that is deceptive, since the final acidity in this dry wine still reached an exciting 8.2 g/L. (Bone-dry)

Jamessuckling.com

100

byJames Sucklingthe7/4/2024

Prepare yourself to meet the spirit of great mineral dry riesling. Gigantic dried peach and dried pear notes, but even more flinty character. A wealth of dried herbs, too. Immense concentration of stony minerality that washes over you like a great wave. Matured for two and a half years in 1,200-liter used oak cases, the last year in the deepest and oldest section of the cellar. Drink or hold.