2007 Joh. Jos. Christoffel Urziger Wurzgarten Riesling Kabinett

Fresh, ripe strawberry and an alkaline note rise from the glass of Christoffel’s 2007 Urziger Wurzgarten Riesling Kabinett. This shows less pure pizzazz than the corresponding Treppchen, but here saline, alkaline, and stony nuances enter into a shimmering interchange with the fruit and the finish floats away slowly and delicately, with well-judged, barely noticeable sweetness. Hans-Leo Christoffel and Robert Eymael seem to have had a field day taking their time over the havesting of Christoffel’s vineyards this year, and scoring some stunning successes. That said, in the urgent atmosphere of 2006, this team was similarly successful. Christoffel would be the first to credit his high percentage of old, ungrafted vines and the locations of his parcels for much of the consistently high performance under his label over many years, even now that he is no longer the hands-on boss of the operation. Speaking of parcels, importer Terry Theise has wisely suggested to Eymael and Christoffel that the “star system” of labeling leads to customer misperception of a wine’s merits and a marketing nightmare. Far better, he argues, to label each Auslese with its original vineyard name thus highlighting differences in personality ... provided the authorities continue to turn a blind eye to the proliferation of pre-1971 vineyard names on (“back”) labels. Importer: Terry Theise Estate Selections, imported by Michael Skurnik Wines, Inc., Syosset, NY; tel (516) 677-9300