2018 Wehlener Sonnenuhr Auslese

This leads with a pungent, dusty combination of spent yeasts, crushed stone, bruised apple skin and lime peel. From the nose, I would never have guessed I had an Auslese in my glass. The feel is surprisingly firm, and flavors of dried apple dominate, taking on attractive but lightly sizzling cinnamon and clove accents on a finish that led me to suspect the presence of botrytis, even though Schug claimed that any botrytis this vintage went solely into BA or TBA. That finish is quite tongue-tingling, a reprise of lime peel and crushed stone adding to an overall sense of animation, though without much sheer juiciness. This will be interesting to follow, and I consider my suggested drinking window especially speculative.