A wine that feels like time slowed down to a shimmer. The 2001 Rothenberg Auslese radiates a deep amber glow and an intoxicating perfume of apricot compote, candied citrus, acacia honey and saffron. Beneath the sweetness lies that telltale Gunderloch backbone — fine acidity and red-slate minerality giving lift and definition to every luxurious layer. On the palate, it’s unctuous yet ethereal, gliding between richness and lightness with effortless grace. Now perfectly mature, it shows the harmony only great German Riesling can achieve: sweetness, freshness, and soul in perfect sync.

For when: dessert is an afterthought, because this is dessert.
Pairs with: foie gras, blue cheese, or the soft quiet of a long evening.
If this wine were: a fabric, it’d be pure silk shot through with gold.

Weingut Gunderloch has been a defining voice of Rheinhessen Riesling for more than a century. Founded in 1890 and today run by the Hasselbach family, the estate’s reputation rests on its extraordinary holdings in Nackenheim’s Rothenberg, the steep, iron-rich “Red Slope” that produces wines of tension, spice and crystalline precision. The combination of slate minerality, old vines and meticulous hand selection allows for Rieslings of both power and poise — particularly in benchmark vintages like 2001, where cool nights and a long autumn yielded fruit of exquisite balance. In the Rothenberg Auslese, that balance becomes transcendence: sweetness woven seamlessly into structure, a wine that can still sing decades on.