2006 Maximin Grunhauser Abtsberg Auslese

The 2006 Maximin Grunhauser Abtsberg Riesling Auslese smells of ripe peach, grapefruit, and honey; offers a flattering creaminess of texture and honeyed richness, admirable sheer concentration of peachy essence, yet admirable clarity; and manages to handle an obviously large load of residual sugar without lacking refreshment or wet stone mineral character (and a bit of herbal, peppery pungency) in the finish. A slight aura of caramel adds allure. This is purer and longer than the corresponding Herrenberg, although I would want to wait for the sweetness to subside before drinking it. There should be 20- or more year potential of the sort one has come to associate with Abtsberg Auslese over the past four decades ... unless of course (as with any of these) the botrytis catches up with them in a negative way. And if ever there were an instance where the wine will have the last word, it's here. -The grapes looked equal bad for all of these Auslese,- says Kraml, -and I can't explain why they have the different personalities that they do.- The same might some day be said about their eventual evolution in bottle. After witnessing last year a definitive return to their traditional top form at Grunhaus under the direction of owner Carl von Schubert and cellarmaster and vineyard manager Stefan Kraml, I harbored hopes that vintage 2006 would demonstrate continued excellence, and the evidence did not really dampen them. The fact that there are not so many outstanding wines this year must largely be laid at the door of the weather, of which the team appears to have made the best, considering results on the Ruwer as a whole. No one can accuse Kraml and von Schubert of risk aversion: they did not begin picking until October 10, -as late as we could,- says Kraml, -which turned out to be almost too late. But the fruit was simply not ripe sooner. The berries all developed tiny fissures, though, so you can imagine what happened in these warm temperatures and persistent humidity and how strictly we had to select. I would never have imagined that good wines could come from grapes that looked so awful. You had to determine what looked bad but was good, and what looked bad and really was bad.- Around 10-15% of the fruit was simply discarded. The roughly 50% of dry wine production was harvested almost entirely in the first week. I found the Abtsberg favored by nature this year across the range, and the trocken wines - though well-made - a bit lean and marginal in ripeness. Importer: P. J. Valckenberg International, Tulsa, OK; tel. (918) 622-0424