Egon Muller : Riesling Scharzhofberger Kabinett 2020

Tasting Characteristics and Advice for Egon Müller Riesling Scharzhofberger Kabinett 2020

Tasting

Color

The wine displays a pale yellow hue with bright greenish highlights.

Nose

The nose is captivating in its finesse and delicacy, revealing aromas of white mint, vineyard peach and whipped almond cream. Citrus notes (mandarin, lemon, lime) mingle with floral touches of orange blossom and fresh vegetal nuances. The mineral dimension, typical of the Scharzhofberg terroir, shows through in notes of wet slate, green tea and ginger.

Palate

The attack is juicy and almost creamy, with residual sweetness bringing roundness. Gradually, spicy and tangy elements emerge, with a bright, refreshing acidity running through the palate like a guiding thread. Despite the presence of residual sugars, mineral freshness dominates the overall impression. The mid-palate reveals beautiful concentration, with flavors of quince, peach, tart apple and citrus. The finish, exceptionally long and precise, leaves a vibrant sensation with increasingly pronounced minerality.

Food and Wine Pairing

This Riesling is an ideal match for delicate fish and seafood, especially oysters and scallops. It pairs perfectly with Asian cuisine, particularly Thai green curry dishes, sushi and fried fish. Aged goat cheeses, fine charcuterie and risottos also make excellent pairings. Its delicate structure also makes it a remarkable apéritif wine.

Serving and Cellaring

Riesling Scharzhofberger Kabinett 2020 is best served between 8 and 12°C. Brief aeration after opening allows its full aromatic complexity to emerge. This wine can be enjoyed now for its youthful vibrancy, but it will evolve beautifully until around 2045, developing increasingly complex tertiary notes over time.

A Mosel Riesling of exceptional finesse and minerality

The estate

Weingut Egon Müller is one of the most prestigious wine estates in the world. Founded in 1797 when Jean-Jacques Koch acquired the Scharzhof property, the estate has remained family-owned through the generations. Today, Egon Müller continues the excellence of this lineage, assisted by his son. Located in the Saar Valley in Moselle-Sarre-Ruwer, the estate controls 8.3 hectares of the prestigious Scharzhofberg vineyard. Egon Müller is the only German member of the Primum Familiae Vini association, which brings together the twelve most prestigious family-owned wine estates in the world. The estate’s philosophy is rooted in the conviction that wine quality is born entirely in the vineyard, favoring minimal intervention and traditional practices.

The vineyard

Scharzhofberger Kabinett comes from the famous Scharzhofberg vineyard, located in Wiltingen in the Saar Valley. This exceptional terroir benefits from a due-south exposure on steep slopes with gradients ranging from 30 to 60%, at an altitude between 180 and 280 meters. The soils consist of deeply weathered gray Devonian slate, rich in minerals and natural salts, giving the wines their distinctive mineral character. The proximity of the Saar River moderates temperatures and reflects sunlight onto the vines. The estate maintains extraordinarily old vines, some dating back to the 19th century and remaining ungrafted. Very high planting density and intentionally limited yields of 30–60 hectoliters per hectare enable optimal concentration of aromas.

The vintage

The 2020 vintage in the Mosel was marked by a contrasted growing season. After a wet autumn and winter of 2019, spring 2020 saw near-continuous sunshine from mid-March, encouraging early budbreak. The hot, dry summer enabled intense photosynthetic activity. However, August was cool, slowing sugar accumulation while preserving high acidity. Harvest began on October 11, three weeks later than in 2019. Modest rains in early October caused some rot, but the grapes showed satisfactory sugar levels and remarkable acidity. Cool conditions during picking prevented the development of the noble rot required for late-harvest wines, thus creating ideal conditions for producing delicate, mineral Kabinett.

Winemaking and aging

Riesling Scharzhofberger Kabinett 2020 is produced using traditional, low-intervention methods. After hand harvesting and gentle pressing, the musts are settled for about 24 hours before being transferred into large 1,000-liter oak foudres. Fermentation is carried out with indigenous yeasts when conditions allow, proceeding slowly over four to six months in the deep, cool cellars dating back to monastic times. No chaptalization is practiced. The residual sweetness results from a naturally incomplete fermentation rather than technical intervention. The wine is aged on fine lees, allowing its aromatic complexity to develop while preserving purity and freshness.

Grape variety

This German white wine is 100% Riesling