Peach preserves and vanilla-laced baked peach filling to buttery, yeasty pie characterize the Schonborn 2011 Erbacher Marcobrunn Riesling Auslese, which, like its Pfaffenberg counterpart, was harvested across the range of the relevant Einzellage and over several weeks. There is a welcome core of primary juiciness here, but the wine is highly confected and superficially sweet, with faded lily and musk adding a decadent aura to its lingering, soothingly throat-coating finish. In recent reports, I have ascribed the significant positive developments at Schloss Schonborn to Peter Barth, who was named "winery director of the year 2009" by the Gault Millau, wine guide within Germany. However, Baarth was dismissed by Count Paul Schonborn in autumn of 2012 after the State of Hessen brought charges against him for violations of German Wine Law based on analyses that allegedly demonstrated he had illegally concentrated musts; blended wines in ways incompatible with their labeled geographical attributions; and added distilled spirit to T.B.A.s (presumably to push them past the 5% alcohol requisite for wine). The charges involved 20 wines (Seven of them Pinots) and around 20,000 bottles, mostly from vintage 2011, all of which the winery - acting decisively, if ultimately with little choice - destroyed or has sought to buy back from trade or private owners so that they can be destroyed. As of early 2014, the case has yet to come to trial. Steffen Roll, who replaced Barth soon after the latter's dismissal, will be responsible for a newly-assembled viticulture team as well as for wine-making, and there is little doubt among those who have observed their vineyards first hand that the level of care these received under outside management - along with their sheer vastness - was a weak point of the Schonborn estate, whether or not consequences of that weakness played any role in a temptation to transgress wine law in the cellar (which I tend to doubt). As it happens, I got an especially distressing glimpse of the estate's rot-endangered flagship Hattenheimer Pfaffenberg and other nearby vineyards during the warm, rainy third week of September, 2011, but Barth had not yet ordered any significant picking and expressed confidence that if the rain soon stopped, he would still be able to select both healthy and botrytized bunches capable of excellence, which is exactly what happened. "Many people failed to learn the relevant lessons from 2003," he insisted, and for that reason ended up with overly-alcoholic and acid-deficient 2011s. Among other procedures, musts were immediately pressed; rapidly and radically chilled; then rigorously settled. This is one of several Rhine estates whose lighter dry 2011s I found more expressive and better-balanced than their Grosse Gewachse. My tasting notes on this occasion reflect no experiences subsequent to Barth's indictment for wine fraud, but I have placed a parenthetic asterisk (*) after the names of any wines I reviewed that were evidenced in those charges, and added a parenthetic note on the infraction in question. As usual given the huge extent of this estate - and even allowing for its many distinguished vineyards whose fruit informs only generic bottlings - I did not taste more than two-thirds of its vintage offerings. Importer: Rudi Wiest, Cellars International, Carlsbad, CA; tel. (800) 596 9463. Until recently, though, various importers, including Dee Vine Wines, San Francisco, CA; tel. (877) 389- 9463; Slocum & Sons, North Haven, CT; tel. (203) 239-8000, Frederick Wildman & Sons, New York, NY; tel. (212) 355-0700, and Winesellers, Ltd., Niles, IL; tel. (847) 647-1100

High acidity does not save the Schonborn 2009 Erbacher Marcobrunn Riesling Auslese – harvested from across the estates several parcels in this famed site – from an overall confectionary impression, but its impressive persistence of butterscotch, peach preserves, and candied lemon is leavened by some sense of sheer juicy succulence. Polished and subtly oily in texture, it finishes with fine if slightly sticky length. While not remotely as impressive as its 2008 counterpart, I could easily imagine this taking on further interest over a 20 or more year period. On the other hand, there is some danger lest a botrytis pungency that hints at burnt sugar might turn outright bitter. The latest collection from Peter Barth and his team further demonstrates the high standards that now prevail at this venerable estate. “The window for optimal harvest seems to keep narrowing,” Barth notes, and the relatively high finished alcohol levels on this years dry Schonborn Rieslings certainly testifies to that fact, leaving the 2008s at this address with a distinct edge over their 2009 counterparts. Despite the ravages of hail in Hattenheim and Erbach – including the loss of nearly one-third of the estates anticipated crop of Marcobrunn – the number of different bottlings from that site and from the monopole Pfaffenberg is still considerable. Various importers, including Dee Vine Wines San Francisco, CA; tel. (877) 389- 9463, Slocum & Sons, North Haven, CT; tel. 203-239-8000, Frederick Wildman & Sons, New York, NY; tel. (212) 355-0700, Winesellers Ltd. Niles, IL; tel. (847) 647-1100

Picked simultaneously with and from the same old vines as the corresponding Marcobrunn Grosses Gewachs, the Schonborn 2008 Erbacher Marcobrunn Riesling Auslese reflects high quality, subtly yet profoundly efficacious botrytis and a picking crew's eye for it. Peach preserves, peach kernel, heliotrope, and saffron in an unforgettably beautiful aromatic display all represent typical Marcobrunn traits rather than those of noble rot per se. The creamy-rich palate evinces some sense of honey along with its concentration of peach preserves and nut paste, while at the same time practically levitating. Savory suggestions of saffron and salt as well as piquant hints of peach kernel offer counterpoint and contrast to the sweet elements, and as richly ripe as is the finish here, you wouldn't ever guess the wine harbored 110 grams of residual sugar. This nectarous beauty epitomizes the elegance possible in 2008 and the characteristics of one of the world's greatest Riesling vineyards that has unfortunately birthed far too few great Rieslings in recent years. Sock some of this classic away without further thought (or delay!) for enjoying over the next quarter century. (There are around 400 half-bottles.) Practically anything you could ask of a Marcobrunn Auslese is here except time in the bottle. An April, 2009 visit to this estate - my first in many years - convinced me of Peter Barth's seriousness and talent, and revealed many wines worthy of the great potential of the vast von Schonborn acreage. Last September, I was thrilled by an even finer collection. The number of separate and vineyard-specific bottlings here (as explained - along with other recent developments at this estate - in issue 185) is nowadays intentionally limited. Additionally, in 2008 Barth adopted a very conservative approach, essaying few nobly sweet wines, and while finding his best fruit from top parcels worthy of Erstes Gewachs bottlings, he did not render parallel Spatlese trocken bottlings from the same sites as in other recent years. -Our late start picking this year, with the first Riesling on October 17,- Barth points out, -would have been considered entirely normal 15 years ago. But honestly, by the time we started, I think more than half of the Rheingau had already been picked, a lot of that wines with green, unripe notes and resulting in wines that were then de-acidified.- Various importers, including Dee Vine Wines San Francisco, CA; tel. (877) 389- 9463, Slocum & Sons, North Haven, CT; tel. (203) 239-8000, Frederick Wildman & Sons, New York, NY; tel. (212) 355-0700

The Schonborn 2007 Erbacher Marcobrunn Riesling Auslese is a wine far-gone indeed on botrytis. High-toned pear distillate, kirsch, litchi, peach and gooseberry preserves, gardenia, and lily rise from the glass. On the palate, a creamy pool of pear drops, honey, licorice, marzipan, and liquid flowers overflows into a finish of striking, almost electric brightness no wonder, given 11.3 grams of acid!, featuring fresh lemon, pear skin, and pungent sweat. You can't pretend this is harmonious - and at first whiff you might mistake it for having come from a still - but it certainly makes for a remarkable experience. Sock some away for a few decades and taste what becomes of it is all I can suggest. Peter Barth took over cellar duties in 2001, and direction of the entire, fabled Schonborn estate in 2006. I had not visited in all that time - only heard rumors of a revival (tales of a sort that are too often false alarms when it comes to large, underperforming, noble Rheingau estates) - so I am happy to report that the renaissance of Schloss Schonborn is for real. Ten years ago, I found Schonborn's dry wines too austere and their sweet wines exaggeratedly so. Examples of these extremes have not been eliminated, but there are plenty of gorgeous and without doubt age-worthy wines that steer a steady stylistic course. Although - like most large German estates - Schonborn has pruned the number of single-vineyard wines and styles on offer when compared with the enormous annual line-ups that prevailed until a decade ago, this has been done with sensitivity to synergistic blends, and allowing plenty of room for each of the domaine's most celebrated vineyards - in particular their monopole Hattenheimer Pfaffenberg with 12 bottlings this vintage! and Erbacher Marcobrunn - to show-off. Various importers, including Dee Vine Wines San Francisco, CA; tel. (877) 389-9463, Slocum & Sons, North Haven, CT; tel. 203-239-8000, Frederick Wildman & Sons, New York, NY; tel. (212) 355-0700