No doubt its higher level of residual sugar relative to the wines that preceded it in the Jost line-up, rather than sheer ripeness, is what brings out the site-typical tropicality in Josts’s 2010 Bacharacher Hahn Riesling Kabinett. Pink grapefruit and lychee - though also green apple - scent and lusciously inform the palate, with complementary sweetness and brightness making for invigorating and fruitful tension that carries - along with hints of caraway and apple pip - into a frisky, persistent finish. This fine value ought to perform well for well more than a decade, and reminds me of the sort of wine one associated with Hahn Kabinett during the 1980s and early 1990s. Jost’s musts - largely from late October picking - were all double-salt de-acidified, and certain lots, including the Grosse Gewachse from both Mittelrhein and Rheingau, also underwent malo-lactic transformation in the course of unusually long fermentations. “We should culture and sell whatever powerful bacteria managed this,” notes Cecilia Jost jocularly, considering the low-pH medium in which they worked even after double-salt treatment. High acids also prompted some experiments in extended lees exposure and skin contact, though I fancy the latter might in some instances have accentuated a tendency toward bitterness. (Cecelia Jost had acquired some experience with all of these approaches from her time in New Zealand.) Residual sugar was left higher, and alcohol lower than usual in the majority of these 2010s.Bill Mayer Age of Riesling Selections, imported by Valley View Wine Sales, Glen Ellen, CA; tel. (510) 549 2444; also imported by Dee Vine Wines, San Francisco, CA; tel. (877) 389-9463