The Emrich-Schonleber 2009 Monzinger Halenberg Riesling R was still in barrel when I tasted it; not due for bottling until late spring, 2011 along with the 2010s; and Schonlebers were talking about perhaps holding it for two years in bottle rather than one before release. However they play it, this is going to be one amazing and worth waiting-for wine! A luscious abundance of quince, pear, lime, pineapple, blood orange, and white peach mingles with almond and pistachio oil while a profusion of inner-mouth honeysuckle and buddleia perfume casts a ravishing spell over the entire proceeding. This possesses a seductive creaminess of texture that is only likely to be enhanced by its additional fine lees contact. “We wanted to achieve precisely this sort of creaminess,” notes Werner Schonleber, “and for that reason included 10 or 15% of very finely botrytised fruit.” Yet, at the same time, there is no less striking a sense of levity, transparency, shimmering interplay, or sheer, fantastic refreshment here than in the corresponding Grosses Gewachs (which came from the same parcel.) At around 15 grams of residual sugar, this is already for all intents and purposes an impeccably-balanced dry-tasting Riesling, and I certainly can’t agree with Werner Schonleber’s contention that precisely this small amount of residual sugar renders his “R” uniquely in need of bottle age. That said, I fully expect that one will be rewarded for at least two decades by one’s choice to cellar some of it. Werner and Frank Schonleber harvested through nearly the entire month of October, and noted that levels of sugar and total acidity remained fairly constant, while flavors kept improving and malic acid diminishing in favor of tartaric. Speaking of improving, it’s hard for these two vintners to much-improve their by now phenomenal batting average, but no Riesling lover is likely to suffer the least disappointment by buying bottles of Emrich-Schonleber 2009s. Especially at its dry end, this is a collection to describe which seems to call for an extended mineral vocabulary that doesn’t even exist in English or German! And in nobly sweet echelons, the small amount of Riesling the Schonlebers rendered is strikingly successful and informed by an ample if mysterious measure of sheer juiciness. About the absence of Eiswein, Frank Schonleber notes: “We had the feeling that ripeness had simply advanced too far in 2009 to justify leaving any grapes hanging in anticipation of frost.”Imported by Sussex Wine Merchants, Moorestown, NJ; tel. (856) 608 9644; also imported by Dee Vine Wines, San Francisco, CA tel. (877) 389- 9463