2021 Riesling Silberlack 1st Growth, Schloss Johannisberg

A Riesling that gleams with quiet nobility, the 2021 Silberlack from Schloss Johannisberg is a study in elegance and restraint. Aromas of white peach, lemon zest, and crushed herbs drift from the glass, underpinned by subtle hints of flint and wildflowers. The palate is taut and pure, with crystalline acidity slicing through layers of citrus and orchard fruit, then unfurling into a long, mineral-driven finish. It’s structured yet weightless, a dry Rheingau Riesling that speaks fluently of its heritage and hillside home.

For when: you want clarity and class in the same glass.
Pairs with: grilled sea bass, roast chicken with herbs, or quiet contemplation.
If this wine were: a material, it’d be brushed silver, cool, refined, effortlessly luminous.

Schloss Johannisberg, perched high above the Rhine in the heart of the Rheingau, is one of the most historic and revered wine estates in the world. Founded as a Benedictine monastery over 900 years ago, it is famously credited as the birthplace of Spätlese in 1775, a discovery that transformed the landscape of German wine. Today, the estate is wholly devoted to Riesling, cultivating 50 hectares of vines on steep, south-facing slopes with soils rich in quartz and slate that yield wines of power, precision, and purity.

The Silberlack represents the estate’s Erstes Gewächs (First Growth) dry Riesling - fruit selected from the upper, most mineral parcels of the vineyard. The 2021 vintage, defined by cool temperatures and a long, slow ripening season, gave wines of remarkable tension and aromatic clarity. Fermented and aged partly in large oak casks for texture, it embodies Schloss Johannisberg’s signature style: a seamless blend of tradition and modern finesse, where minerality meets majesty in every sip.