VN9292 pts. - Vinous - Jul 2020
The source here is old vines in the section known as “Im Kleinschock,” a name that was recently registered for labeling purposes by the Webers of Hofgut Falkenstein, though Müller has not chosen to make use of the designation. (Like the Webers, Müller perpetuates the use of nicknames for each of his parcels, frequently referring to their former owners; this one, for instance, is “Schmitz.”) As with this year’s Altenberg Kabinett, there is a lightly fermentative note, here competing with scents of ripe apple and mango. A glossy, subtly creamy feel engenders almost an impression of fat — this was picked a week after the aforementioned Altenberg which, as Müller noted, derived from deeply golden as opposed to green-gold fruit — yet, at the same time, one is conscious of the wine’s alcoholic levity. Lightly tart tingling of apple skin and pineapple core lends welcome invigoration to a brightly juicy, mouthwateringly salt-tinged finish whose sense of acid/sugar tension is entirely productive.
RP9090 pts. - Robert Parker’s The Wine Advocate - 30th Aug 2019
From 50-year old vines in two different parcels in the Kleinschock plot, the 2018 Niedermenniger Sonnenberg Saar Riesling Kabinett Alte Reben opens with an intense yet bright, clear and mineral bouquet of ripe seed fruit and crushed stone aromas. Lush and piquant with racy freshness and slatey purity, this is a remarkably fine and stimulating Kabinett with terroir expression and good aging potential. This is a pretty complete and expressive wine with white stone fruit aromas on the aftertaste that’s mouthwatering, salty, fresh and piquant like lime fruit. This is quite opulent and tastes rather like a Spätlese. Tasted in June 2019.
