Wine: Eberbach-Schäfer Spätburgunder Weißherbst

This bottle of wine has been standing in my cupboard since before Christmas. I bought it for the sake of completeness, because I wanted to sample all of the Eberbach-Schäfer wines, but I didn't open it. I preferred to drink other wines that I'd already reviewed in the past.

Why? I knew it would be a sweet wine. Weißherbst wines are always sweet, and I'm not a fan of sweet wines. Okay, I like Harvey's Bristol Cream, but I don't consider Sherry to be wine, whatever others may say.

Today I opened the bottle, and the first few sips won me over. Yes, it was a sweet wine, as expected, but it's the natural sweetness of the grapes, not added sugar.

Some people would call it a Rosé wine. That's a matter of definition. The colour is the same as Rosé – the wine isn't as orange as the picture, which I copied from a catalogue – but it's made in a different way. Weißherbst, in English "late autumn", signifies that the grapes are picked very late, immediately after the year's first frost. The longer grapes are left on the vine, the sweeter they become. In theory, Weißherbst can be made from any grapes, but in this case it's been made from Spätburgunder ("Late Burgundy") grapes. I've already reviewed Spätburgunder, and it's made from the same grapes, but the resulting wine has a different colour and a different taste.

The wine has a fine scent with aromas of raspberries, pomegranates, rosehips, roses and a hint of almond blossoms. Fresh on the palate, juicy, sweet, playful, fruity and a sweet after-taste.

All I can say about this wine is that I shan't wait too long before I drink it again.

After my wine reviews so far you might be wondering whether I'll write about wines from other vineyards. The answer is Yes, but it's a qualified Yes. I'll only write about the wines that I drink, and I'll only drink the wines that I think I'll like. I shan't pull a random bottle of wine off the shelf in my supermarket just for the sake of reviewing it, it has to appeal to me.

But the wines that I review will all be German wines. I can say that with certainty. Germany, in particular Württemberg, makes the world's best wines. Those are the only wines that I intend to buy.