Weingut Schönlaub, Riesling ‘Teufelskante’ 2020

For more than 250 years, the Schönlaub family has been involved in viticulture. The company is based in the town of Gleiszellen in the southern German wine region of Pflaz. Andreas Schönlaub is now at the helm. The family owns a total of 30 hectares of vineyards in the southern part of the Palatinate.

The vineyards are farmed without chemical fertilisers, herbicides, insecticides. Sixty per cent of the vineyards are planted with white- and the remaining 40 per cent with blue grape varieties.A lot of time is spent on vineyard work. Like no other, the Schönlaubs know that the basis for good wine must be laid in the vineyard: The best grapes give the best wines. In the vineyards, work is done with attention to detail, dedication and knowledge passed down from generation to generation. Yields are kept low and strict selection takes place during harvest to obtain the best quality wine. The wine cellar is spick and span and equipped gleaming stainless steel fermentation vessels to preserve the delicate aromas of the white and red wines.

The Palatinate is Germany’s second largest wine-growing region after Rheinhessen. The area’s viticultural history dates back to Roman times. The climate in the Palatinate is very mild, almost Mediterranean, with 1,800 hours of sunshine a year, making it ideal for viticulture. The soil contains plenty of sandstone, lime, loam, marl and copper. The Haardt mountain range protects the grapes from wind and rain from the west.

Vineyard & wine cellar
Grapes from a vineyard with red sandstone soil, yields here are low and the flavours in the grapes are extra concentrated. Grapes are picked by hand. Fifty per cent of the grape juice is fermented in stainless steel vats. The other 50 per cent in new French oak barrels, this gives the wine flavour notes of butter, honey and caramel.