2005 Reichsgraf von Kesselstatt Scharzhofberger Riesling Spätlese

The 2005 Scharzhofberger Riesling Spatlese offers aromas and flavors of peach, pear, and salt spray, a creamy but sleek and delicate-weight palate with insistent fresh fruit acidity and minerality, and a finish bordering on the opulent, overtly sweet, yet transparent to saline and spicy nuances. This year’s Kesselstatt collection disappointed me slightly compared to last year’s, with the sweet wines not always possessed of the requisite clarity or acid structure for best effect and the ostensibly top-end dry wines pushing the limits of what they could bear by way of alcohol and phenolic extraction. The latter must be legally trocken, explains Annegret Reh-Gartner, given the nature of the German market and the fact that these wines are sold in restaurants and shops throughout the country. In truth, nearly all of them would almost surely have been better if left with a few more grams of residual sugar. All that said, there is plenty to find favor with amid this domaine’s sprawling collection, the first under cellarmaster Wolfgang Mertes’ watch. Also recommended: 2005 Piesporter Goldtropfchen Riesling trocken ($18.00; 85), 2005 Scharzhofberg Riesling Kabinett feinherb ($22.00; 86), 2005 Piesporter Domherr Riesling Kabinett feinherb ($22.00; 86), 2005 Kaseler Kehrnagel Riesling Kabinett feinherb ($22.00; 85), 2005 Ockfener Bockstein Riesling Kabinett ($22.00; 86), 2005 Kaseler Nies’chen Riesling Kabinett ($22.00; 85), 2005 Piesporter Goldtropfchen Riesling Kabinett ($22.00; 86), 2005 Josephshofer Riesling Spatleset ($33.00; 86). Various importers, including P. J. Valckenberg International, Tulsa, OK; tel. (918) 622-0424