The four rare old-vine rows that last year yielded a singular T.B.A. produced Kuhling-Gillot’s 2008 Niersteiner Pettenthal Gewurztraminer feinherb Qvinterra. (“Qvinterra” is the estate’s common name for bottlings in their lower price segment.) Smelling of celery seed and rose petal, it floods the palate with oily richness – lychee and bacon fat joining the cast of characters – yet retains a measure of refreshment often missing with this variety, and at 13.5% alcohol evinces no heat. This refined, dry-tasting Gewurztraminer should prove fascinating at table over at least the better part of a decade. Carolin Gillot – for more about whose estate see my report in issue 185 – professes the importance of spontaneous fermentations to retain refinement in her relatively warm sites as well as – in the ideal case – to render less efficient the conversion of sugar to alcohol. As a measure of Gillot’s recent commercial success and excellent press within Germany, not a single bottle of her village-level Riesling from Oppenheim could be found for me to taste – which was last September – and she reported that the last large order had had to be shorted. Given the quality of this latest collection, things are unlikely to get better in regard to the demand-supply ratio!Importer: Domaine Select Wine Estates, New York, NY; tel. (212) 279-0799