2004 Erdener Pralat Auslese Goldkapsel

The 2004 Erdener Pralat Riesling Auslese Gold Capsule marks the first starring role for botrytis in this year’s collection, yet that never detracts from the wine’s clarity or purity of fruit. The nose is honeyed, spicy but not prickly, with distilled herb and flower intensity and luscious citricity. In the mouth this is creamy and rich with a multidimensional display of flowers, herbs, mineral salts, pit fruits, citrus, all deployed in luscious layers, drenched in honey, and parading slowly and seamlessly across the palate. If this sounds more like a laundry list than poetry, I have, to that extent, failed with my poor words to do justice to this wonderful elixir, the finest Loosen-Schug Pralat I can recall. Importer: Loosen Brothers, Portland, OR; tel. (510) 864-7255