Reichsgraf von Kesselstatt Scharzhofberger Riesling Trockenbeerenauslese, Mosel, Germany

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The 2007 Scharzhofberger Riesling Trockenbeerenauslese – which, like other nobly sweet von Kesselstatt wines, has a numerical nickname (“#27,” not that anyone is likely to suppose there were two otherwise eponymous TBAs) – is redolent of peach preserves, dates, and dark honey, caramel, with overtones of wood smoke and candied citrus zest forming a pungent aromatic wreath around its opulent fruit. Here is another example at this estate of sweetness that seems to be smothering some potential complexity, and there is an element of sheer brown sugar to accompany honey and fruit preserves in the finish. There isn’t much energy or any interplay of flavors here, but given that this viscous elixir isn’t merely static but monumental, it’s risky to attempt to speak of what might be in 15-20 years. In any event, I am sure this will be more than merely alive in 50 years, indeed, this wine is all about the future, so if you are young enough and wealthy enough (full bottles sold for 700 Euros, the highest price bit on any lot at the September, 2009 VDP auction in Trier), then go for it!A protracted harvest is almost bound to be especially beneficial for an estate with such enormous and widely-scattered vine acreage as that of von Kesselstatt. The acidity in this year’s collection is almost uniformly ripe, and often noticeably low. As usual, a certain austerity accrues to a fair share of Kesslestatt’s many trocken Rieslings (wines from whose labels the last vestiges of Pradikat designations have now disappeared), but happily, alcoholic heat was scarcely a problem here this year. Interestingly, the Saar wines among these were generally especially successful regardless of style. Annegret Reh’s plan in the Kabinett segment, incidentally, is to eventually eliminate the redundancy of having both feinherb (successors to former halbtrocken) and unabashedly sweet bottlings from a single site, but instead work in the direction of merely discreet – i.e. feinherb – sweetness for most of the estate’s Kabinetts. In a sweet style, the Kesselstatt Kabinetts have consistently represented excellent values with ready market-availability, whereas few of the drier Kabinetts (and virtually none of the estate’s trocken Rieslings) seem to make it to the U.S.Various importers including: P. J. Valckenberg International, Tulsa, OK; tel (918) 622-0424.