A Great 2006 from Schäfer-Fröhlich

I’ve been keen to explore the wines of Schäfer-Fröhlich for a while now, particularly since reading Brother Lyle’s trip report from last year and his subsequent tasting notes over the course of said year. When I spotted Schäfer-Fröhlich's 2006 Halenberg Spätlese trocken while browsing the recent relocation sale offerings from Chambers Street Wines, I jumped at it. I’ve been drinking Halenberg Spätlesen trocken from Emrich-Schönleber for years now and thought it would be educational (and fun) to explore the work of another top grower from the same site.

Monzinger Halenberg Riesling Spätlese trocken, Schäfer-Fröhlich 2006
$39. 13% alcohol. Cork. Importer: Rudi Wiest, San Marcos, CA.
This offers up an immediate, explosive nose of key lime pie and briny, oyster shell minerality. Comparing it to memories of Schönleber’s efforts turns out to be tough. It's wilder in its scents and feel. Less suavely textured and less dark fruited perhaps, but no lesser a wine – just a very different expression. Intense lemon, lime and grapefruit zest, along with loads of mineral extract, drive across the palate with electric nerve. The wine finishes with sensationally grippy acids. The mouthfeel is just stunning, changing and evolving, taking minutes to fade away after each taste. Bound up in all that tactile energy is some lovely fruit, citrus and peach in particular, that’s just waiting to emerge, which it does with time and patience in the glass. We only had so much patience though. I’d love to have tasted it on day two, even day three, but that wasn’t to be on this occasion. A great choice for the cellar if any remains available.