Bottled earlier than its stable mates, the Muller 2008 Scharzhofberger Riesling Kabinett A.P. #3 smells of sea breezes and shrimp shell reduction in a manner that accentuates the already mineral thrust of the corresponding A.P. #6. Nor is a classic wet stone suggestion missing here either. Muller thinks the measurably remarkably high dry extract levels of the 2008s have some significance in terms of flavor, and it's certainly hard to deny that this Kabinett - while delicate, invigorating, and supremely refreshing - also seems as though you could strain it through your teeth and come up with a shimmering mineral residue. Furthermore, something other than residual sugar is manifestly buffering out and balancing the high acidity. don't look for charm here, and above all not for the laid-back, soothing side 2008 can sometimes show. This wine will stiffen your spine even as it invigorates your palate and challenges your imagination. I'd plan to follow some for at least a dozen years. Egon Muller finds merit in the comparison of 2008 with 1988 - or perhaps, as I suggested of his collection specifically, to 1969, a vintage with which, as he pointed out, the youthful 1988s were frequently compared. He notes that -half the 2008 harvest became Kabinett, and most of the rest Q.b.A.- but most of these Kabinetts would have been classified a grade higher in the, for its time, -classic Spatlese vintage- of 1988. That said, Muller and his team - who, unlike most of their Saar neighbors in search of a balance of dry and nobly sweet wines, do not spray against botrytis in summer - managed some superb selective harvesting this year, for which, he relates -the last week in October was the best time. At the end of October, it rained a bit again, and the botrytis was no longer so good. And that's why there is so little nobly sweet wine this year.- Apropos Kabinett, Muller takes a dim view of creeping residual sugar in wines so-labeled - confessing that he did not prove immune to that temptation - and is now bottling in the 30-35 gram range. He is always at pains to point out that he views and styles such wines in the manner traditionally associated with so-called Naturwein rather than in a manner especially associated with capital--K- Kabinett. Nonetheless, 2008 is one vintage where the Muller Kabinett bottlings exhibit precisely the delicacy that many of us consider the essence of that post-1971 category. For the most part, these 2008s - which, as a group, constitute a summit of their vintage - were bottled significantly later than the estate norm. (As always, Muller wines from his monopole Braune Kupp are bottled under the Le Gallais label.)Importer: Frederick Wildman & Sons, New York, NY (212) 355 0700
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