C. von Schubert’s Schlosskellerei Maximin Grünhäuser Abtsberg Spätlese dry 2006

C. von Schubert’s Castle Winery – Maximin Grünhäuser Abtsberg Spätlese dry 2006

The Maximin Grünhäuser Abtsberg Spätlese dry 2006 from the C. von Schubert Castle Winery is an exceptional wine from one of the most traditional and renowned vineyards in the Ruwer Valley. The Maximin Grünhaus winery can trace its history back to Roman times: As early as 633, King Dagobert I gifted the estates on the Grüneberg to the Monastery of St Maximin in Trier, and until secularisation in 1802, the estate was managed by the Benedictine abbey. In 1882, the coal and steel industrialist Carl Ferdinand, Baron von Stumm-Halberg, acquired the estate as a dowry for his daughter Ida Louise on the occasion of her marriage to the future General Conrad von Schubert – it has been in the family ever since. Since 2014, Maximin von Schubert has been running the winery as the sixth generation of the family, continuing the great tradition established by his father Carl-Ferdinand, Gault-Millau’s ‘Winemaker of the Year’, since 1981.

The Abtsberg is one of the estate’s three famous single vineyards and is regarded as the Schlosskellerei’s exclusive vineyard. The terroir of this Grand Cru is unique: the vines grow on blue Devonian slate on south-east to south-west facing steep slopes with gradients of up to 70 per cent. These extreme conditions and the cool climate of the Ruwer Valley lend the wines an unmistakable, salty minerality and tremendous vigour – precisely what Maximin Grünhaus is renowned for worldwide.

The 2006 vintage on the Ruwer was characterised by a warm summer and a ripe harvest. The dry Spätlese is in impressive form: the bouquet is characterised by floral notes of orange blossom and honeysuckle, accompanied by lemon zest, a hint of peach and a touch of wild mushrooms. On the palate, the wine unfolds with an intense acidity interwoven with citrus fruits, underpinned by ripe fruit and a mineral, slate-like note. The texture is sleek and precise, with a long, satisfying finish. One taster described the wine as “a magnificent mature Riesling with a long life still ahead of it”.

The wine was vinified using traditional methods: after a short maceration period, it was fermented in oak vats and stainless steel tanks and matured on the lees in oak vats. The dry Spätlese is not a ‘Große-Gewächs’, but a category in its own right – a wine that combines the power and maturity of a Spätlese with the clarity and precision of a dry Riesling. For lovers of great Ruwer Rieslings, this 2006 Abtsberg offers a rare opportunity to experience an authentic piece of Saar-Ruwer wine history at its peak of maturity.