Domaine Weinbach - Riesling Grand Cru Schlossberg Ste Catherine 2022

Ian D'Agata Wine Review

Vinous

Robert Parker Wine Advocate

The 2022 Schlossberg Riesling Ste Catherine is clear, very fresh and saline on the intense and floral nose. On the palate, this is a powerful, rich and tensioned Schlossberg with a complex and saline finish. 14.5% stated alcohol. Natural cork. Tasted at the domaine in April 2024.

After the wet and generally challenging 2021 vintage, it could have been a big harvest in fall 2022. Fruit set was good, but right at the beginning of the growing season, mildew reduced the potential yield at Weinbach by 45%. But who knows what would have happened without that problem, because the vintage was soon to be very hot and also very dry, and those other grapes would only have suffered on the vines, especially on the barren, sun-exposed granite soils in the Schlossberg. Today, it must be said that the 2021s are doing better than perhaps expected, and the 2022s are doing so too, albeit for different reasons. The old vines survived the summer drought surprisingly well, and so the Faller family was delighted with a magnificent 2022 Schlossberg Riesling Ste Catherine. The 2021 was already outstanding yet different in nature. The Gewürztraminer from the limestone grand cru Furstentum is also of terrific quality, as is the Pinot Gris from the oolitic limestone pebbles in the Marckrain. Overall, the 2022s are richer and more powerful than the 2021s and have half a percentage point more alcohol by volume. However, this is not clumsy, as the wines also have an amazing foundation of salt, although the dryness was hardly likely to bring such complexity and structure to the grapes. However that happened, the white wines of both vintages are undoubtedly of excellent quality, with the 2021 showing less alcohol and a straighter, fresher and more mineral character.

When it comes to the reds from old vines and aged in wood for over two years, in particular the 2020 Pinot Noir Le Jardin aux Oiseux from the Furstentum and the 2020 Pinot Noir Altenbourg, Domaine Weinbach has been making great strides for a few years now. Is it because of the increasing proportion of whole grapes? This accentuates the freshness in 2021 and is what makes it possible in the 2020s, which were born in another warm and sunny vintage. The rather cool-grown 2021 Pinot Noir Les Terres du Prince from 50-year-old vines was even fermented 100% with whole clusters. It impresses with its fullness and austerity and shows excellent potential.

James Suckling

Still extremely youthful on the nose, which is not something you expect from such a warm and dry vintage, but that is typical for the greatest 2022 wines. This astonishing dry riesling starts off very minerally, but that doesn’t prepare you for the way its stony profundity expands and expands as its climbs into the sky like a rocket ascending. And somehow, all this feels so effortless, so delicate and so breathtakingly precise. From biodynamically grown grapes with Demeter certification. Drinkable now, but best from 2025.