Bischöfliche Weingüter 2021 Riesling Scharzhofberger Spätlese Mosel 750ml

The 2021 Bischöfliche Weingüter Trier Scharzhofberger Riesling Spätlese has earned a genuinely rare, prestigious distinction: the Judges' Selection Medal at the TEXSOM Awards, recognizing it as the single most outstanding Riesling across the entire category. TEXSOM is widely regarded as one of the wine industry's most rigorous and respected judging platforms, and this honor carries real weight — out of roughly 850 medals awarded across the entire competition, only 5% receive Judges' Selection status, putting this wine in genuinely elite company.

Scharzhofberg is the Saar's most internationally celebrated vineyard site — a cool, high-altitude slope of blue slate that Wine Enthusiast's own coverage of the estate's Spätlese bottling calls a genuine "treat to taste" every vintage, "laser edged and gorgeously complex," a true expression of "the blue slate slopes of this cool, high-altitude vineyard of the Saar." Bischöfliche Weingüter Trier holds 6 hectares directly on Scharzhofberg, part of a historic 130-hectare estate spanning 160 parcels along the Mosel, Saar, and Ruwer, with a cellar beneath Trier's old town containing sections dating to 600 AD.

Spätlese sits above Kabinett on Germany's traditional ripeness scale, made from grapes left to hang longer on the vine for deeper concentration, and Bischöfliche Weingüter's own house style, per Wine Enthusiast's review of an adjacent vintage from this exact vineyard, typically shows "an intensely mineral, smoky nose" alongside "luminous white peach" character — real hallmark traits of top Scharzhofberg fruit. The estate's own press materials, reflecting on the broader Spätlese lineup that same vintage, note the Scharzhofberger specifically stands out among the sweeter Spätlesen "with its precision" — a genuinely fitting description for a wine that's now been formally recognized as the best Riesling in its class. This is a genuinely serious, award-winning Saar Spätlese — real proof of what this single celebrated vineyard, tended by an estate with centuries of institutional history, is capable of.

Origins & Craftsmanship

Bischöfliche Weingüter Trier 2021 Riesling Scharzhofberger Spätlese is produced by a historic estate formed through the merger of significant institutions, including the Bischöfliches Konvikt (founded 1840) and the Bischöfliches Priesterseminar, based in Trier, Germany. The estate farms 130 hectares across 160 parcels along the Mosel, Saar, and Ruwer valleys, including 6 hectares on Scharzhofberg — widely regarded as the Saar's most internationally renowned Grand Cru site, defined by steep, weathered blue slate soils and a genuinely cool, high-altitude microclimate.

Made entirely from Riesling harvested at Spätlese ripeness, undergoing spontaneous fermentation with natural yeasts from the grape skins and cellar flora, then aged on the lees. The 2021 vintage earned the Judges' Selection Medal at the TEXSOM Awards, recognized as the best Riesling in its entire category — a distinction awarded to only 5% of the roughly 850 medals given across the competition.

Critics Reviews

Judges' Selection Medal — TEXSOM Awards:
Named the most outstanding Riesling in the entire category — the highest honor awarded at the competition, with only 5% of approximately 850 total medals reaching Judges' Selection status.

For house-style context, Wine Enthusiast has reviewed the estate's Scharzhofberger Spätlese in adjacent vintages:

Wine Enthusiast (2019 vintage, house-style context):
"Wines from the famed Scharzhofberger Vineyard are always a treat to taste. Laser edged and gorgeously complex, they are a fine expression of the blue slate slopes of this cool, high-altitude vineyard of the Saar. With its intensely mineral, smoky nose and luminous white peach..."

Wine Enthusiast — 93 Points (2022 vintage, house-style context)

Tasting Profile

Nose
Intensely mineral and smoky, with luminous white peach leading, alongside honeyed citrus and floral character typical of top Scharzhofberg fruit.

Palate
Laser-edged and gorgeously complex, with real precision and structured sweetness balanced by the vineyard's characteristic cool-climate acidity.

Finish
Long and refined, closing with lingering mineral slate character — genuinely award-caliber Saar Spätlese.

Quick Overview

Food Pairings

• Foie gras
• Spicy Asian cuisine
• Blue cheese
• Fruit-based desserts