2006 Wiltinger Braune Kupp Spatlese, Le Gallais

The Muller 2006 Wiltinger Braune Kupp Riesling Spatlese announces its ripeness dramatically in a vivid nose of purple plum, blood orange, licorice, brown spices, with hints of caramel and white raisin. Luscious and fresh-fruited in the mouth despite its far-gone ripeness, this also preserves a remarkably vivid sense of sheer wet slate in its lingering, soothing yet refreshing finish. There is such polish and purity on exhibit here – no pock-marks (save perhaps a faint, site-typical, cyanic note of fruit pit), but no nooks or crannies either – that it would be easy to underestimate the accomplishment. Six or eight years will put that into perspective, I predict, and this should be worth cellaring for 20 or more. Despite the challenges of hail (which struck the Scharzhofberg but not the Braune Kupp) and rampant ripening and botrytis, Egon Muller has turned out a 2006 collection whose quality potential he says can be compared (as he did 2005’s) with 1976, the vintage his father believed to have been the finest of his time. “This was a vintage with massive botrytis,” Muller observes, “yet when you taste the wines today, you are amazed at how elegant and refreshing they are.” (Note: stellar quality was achieved in 1976 almost exclusively on the Saar, not in Germany’s other Riesling-growing regions.) Muller also draws comparison between the styles of 2006 and 1999, although the latter vintage involved a great deal of selection and resulted in no fewer than 37 different bottlings. “Surprisingly,” he says, “in 2006 we did very, very little selection. We played around a bit here and there, but we realized very quickly that the must weights were soaring, and haste in the vineyards and the cellar was essential. We did harvest a very small amount of Trockenbeerenauslese – we wanted to do that. But a lot more would have been possible had there been the time.” Importer: Frederick Wildman & Sons, New York, NY; tel. (212) 355-0700