The Vollenweider 2011 Wolfer Goldgrube Riesling Spatlese was a bit cheesy and yeasty in the nose when I encountered it last September, but behind that ripe pear, quince and Persian melon, it offers sweet scents and luscious palate presence, abetted by liquid honeysuckle and lily perfume. More rounded and with less sense of clarity or of underlying mineral notes and mouthwatering savor than the corresponding Kabinett, this is, nonetheless, delightfully luscious, its long finish attractively tinged with brown spices, stone, and persistent liquid perfume. Once the nose clears up – which might already have happened – this is going to be a sheer delight. Daniel Vollenweider lost considerable crop to the savage August, 2011 hailstorm, which hit Krov full-force rendering awesome damage to virtually every slate rooftop, window, and exposed plaster wall in the village. Fortunately, the next-door vineyards of Wolf were largely spared. Picking began October 6 and was finished well before month’s end. Nobly sweet wines were selected-out over the course of the harvest and Vollenweider reports not having had to contend with negative rot. All of those botrytis selections weighed at minimum 140 Oechsle, so the resultant wines begin with gold capsule Auslese, leapfrogging “regular” Auslese as it were. Not atypically for this estate, both a dry wine from the Schimbock, and from the Goldgrube a dry wine, a B.A., and a T.B.A. were still (or just-finished) fermenting at the time when I tasted, and I’ll write about them when I report on the majority of Vollenweider’s 2012s. He has begun bottling a larger range of dry wines than ever before. (Vollenweider has a new importer. Retail prices pending.) Importer: Vom Boden Imports, New York, NY; info@vomboden.com