1987 Scharzhofberger Riesling Auslese

This burnished orange liquid screamed old Riesling with notes of beeswax and a little mousiness plus botrytis. It was very sweet and had massive acidity and was clearly fully mature. I hesitated between 1976 and, thinking of the budget (at this stage I didn't realise that these wines had been donated by their makers), a prematurely aged 2003(!) Egon Müller apparently decided to give a 1987 because it would be a particularly difficult vintage to guess. The Oechsle level was apparently almost up to Eiswein standard. The wine did fade a little on the finish so clearly the vintage wasn't absolutely topnotch. But to have lasted this long was pretty impressive. (JR)