2009 Brauneberger Juffer Sonnenuhr Beerenauslese

Candied pink grapefruit rind, blood orange, caramel, and a savory, pungently smoky alliance of black tea and browned butter in the nose of the Fritz Haag 2009 Braunebeger Juffer-Sonnenuhr Riesling Beerenauslese – of which there are a mere 100 liters – set the stage for a similarly allusive and fascinating, bittersweet and mouth-wateringly savory palate performance. Delicate almost to the point of weightlessness, this evinces a slight sense of superficial sweetness in its imposingly persistent finish. Less complex and more embryonic than the very best nobly sweet bottlings of the remarkable present collection, I would however by no means discount this libation’s potential to rival any of them over the course of the next 35-40 years. It would surely benefit from being entirely forgotten for a dozen or more, as well as from an inevitable eventual diminution of its sense of sweetness. Oliver Haag picked from just before mid-October until November 10, and the resulting collection is most notable for stunning quality in its nobly sweet echelons, although the volume of each bottling is small (typically the equivalent of 200-300 full bottles) due to paucity of botrytis. Importer: Rudi Wiest, Cellars International, Carlsbad, CA; tel. 800 596 9463.