2005 Von Schubert Maximin Grünhäuser Abtsberg Riesling Trockenbeerenauslese Goldkapsel

The 2005 Maximin Grunhauser Abstberg Riesling Trockenbeerenauslese Gold Capsule offers the extraordinarily concentrated essence of a single selection of botrytis berries early in the harvest. With a nose so high-toned that your dog will probably be better able to appreciate it than you, this rises off the charts in terms of sheer concentration of pit fruits and honey and veritable detonation of citricity. Resin, herbal essences, concentrate and distillate of red berries and pit fruits, intense citrus and honey combine for a sensationally intense and strikingly juicy and refreshing complex of flavors whose finishing intensity will have you checking your watch. Ironically, this most concentrated of essences is easier to appreciate than were a couple of its immediate predecessors and a loveable levity goes along with its amazing esszencia-like viscosity. Whoever inherits any bottles you happen to purchase will be richly rewarded, possibly into the next century. Stefan Kraml met me well before eight o’clock on a mid-August morning with an air of quiet confidence and near nonchalance that tipped me off to what would follow: a display of Grunhaus quality such as practically went without saying a decade or more ago. He and owner Carl von Schubert have regained their footing, despite a year in which what von Schubert described as nature’s eventual “turbo-autumn” was preceded by severe hail and an unprecedented tornado that felled 200-year-old trees and a portion of the vineyard walls – to say nothing of the toll it took on vines! The harvest began October 10 and – like many a successful one this year – was finished in a mere two action-packed weeks. Up to the level of B.A., incidentally, all of the wines fermented spontaneously. Also recommended: 2005 Maximin Grunhauser Herrenberg Riesling Spatlese feinherb (unknown; 84+?). Importer: P. J. Valckenberg International, Tulsa, OK; tel. (918) 622-0424