JB BECKER 2022 RIESLING SPATLESE TROCKEN / DRY WALLUFER WALKENBERG, ALTE REBEN

JAMES SUCKLING – 95 POINTS What a beautiful peachy nose this very concentrated and beautifully balanced dry riesling has! This is exactly how I imagine a great Rheingau wine should smell, and the compact, medium-bodied palate exactly reflects this. Fantastic interplay of richness and fine tannins, the acidity lively, but discreet. Very long racy finish. Excellent aging potential. From organically grown grapes. Drink or hold. Glass stopper.

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Hans-Joseph Becker (call him “HaJo”) produces incredibly age-worthy, dry Rieslings from the Rheingau. They are unflaggingly honest and present a vocabulary that few Rieslings can match: dried earth and rocks, herbs, something vaguely subterranean, a savory, briny, smoky atmosphere that slowly reveals fine layers of bright citrus. Becker’s white wines are like Becker himself: angular, with muscle and sinew pulled tightly over a lean frame. They flaunt a rather prominent acidity that recalls the nervier wines of the Mosel, Saar and Ruwer; though there is a weight and a density that speaks of the Rheingau. They seem to have more to do with great Chablis than with German Riesling.