2009 Brauneberger Juffer Kabinett

Faintly fusil and yeasty notes slightly shroud the brown-spiced, herbed apple and peach on the nose of Schloss Lieser’s 2009 Brauneberger Juffer Riesling Kabinett, which while significantly higher in residual sugar even than the corresponding generic, manages to project a cooling, refreshing side to its herbal essences that compliments the wine’s primary fruit juiciness. This projects not just delicacy, but also a lovely sense of lift, and should remain deftly – if perhaps a bit simply – delightful for at least 12-15 years. Thomas Haag picked from mid October until almost the middle of November. “The only drawback” of extending the harvest so late, he insists, “was 15% losses vis-a-vis 2008, thanks to the necessary selection. There was really not much botrytis. We made two T.B.A.s which are still fermenting (that was in mid-September), but we didn’t make any B.A.” With the exception of the aforementioned T.B.A.s, and an inaugural Grosses Gewachs (from the Niederberg Helden) that I unfortunately realized too late I had inexplicably been deprived of an opportunity to taste, all of this collection was bottled already in April. Importer: Rudi Wiest, Cellars International, Carlsbad, CA; tel. 800 596 9463