The Kesselstatt 2006 Scharzhofberger Riesling Trockenbeerenauslese is another nobly sweet wine with a nickname (-#27-) and described as -long gold capsule,- but needless to say there is only one such T.B.A. in this collection! Here we have a practically smarting smoky pungency and assault of high-toned esters on the nose, as if to signal a sort of radioactive presence of botrytis. Peach preserves in an eszencia-like viscous yet light-to-the-touch and (thanks to high acids) not cloyingly sweet palate presentation lend an ethereal aspect. But I find that suggestions of candied sweet potato, brown spices, caramel, and dusty, faintly fungal notes lend an earth-bound character to the finish, which comes off as heavier than the initial sense of palate weight led me to anticipate. That said, it's such early days for this wine that any judgment must be hedged. Suffice it to say I would love to have revisited this (even after a few months rest from bottling); I can imagine it being a 50 or more year wine; but I suspect it will never share the purity and levity of the greatest 2006s. Tasted literally off the bottling line, the astonishingly intense and viscous 2006 Josephshofer Riesling Trockenbeerenauslese - nickname, -#20- - presented a smarting, dusty overlay of botrytis, a desiccated fruit personality, and was overwhelmed by its sheer sweetness. In this awkward state, I refrained from attempting to rate it. The 2005 Kesselstatt T.B.A.s were last summer also rather amorphous and struggling under their sheer viscosity, sweetness, and dosage of sulfur. The estate picks their T.B.A.s at truly mind-boggling must weights, and these tend to ferment and evolve at a glacial pace, often only just meeting the minimum alcohol level required by law for -wine.- I often feel as though I can also only just manage to judge them as wine in their youth.-We organized early,- says Annegret Reh-Gartner, -and then harvested in two weeks what we usually harvest in four.- She felt her hand was forced on the Saar when many of their vineyards were hailed on September 30, but by the time the crew was mobilized the heavy rain of October 3 was upon them.Various importers including: P. J. Valckenberg International, Tulsa, OK; tel. (918) 622-0424