The 2006 Monzinger Fruhlingsplatzchen Riesling Spatlese integrates its considerable sweetness more successfully than the corresponding Kabinett. This, too, is a creamy, dreamy, delicate – if you will, watercolor – sort of Riesling. There is an irresistibly soothing, sherbet-like aspect to the red berries, peach, citrus, and cream on display. The edges are softened not just by the suggestion of creaminess but also by high residual sugar and a honeyed tone. Enjoy this charmer now if you have a sweet tooth to indulge; otherwise at from 8-12 years’ bottle age. “The Nahe had the capability to render really good dry wines this year,” asserts Werner Schonleber. “Elsewhere, the botrytis was problematic, or the ripening took place too quickly. But we caught the whole spectrum here.” He proceeded to prove this memorably in the glass, with the finest collection I have ever tasted at this address (as well as – improbably – one in which Fruhlingsplatzchen outperformed Halenberg).Imported by Sussex Wine Merchants, Moorestown, NJ; tel. (856) 608-9644; also imported by Dee Vine Wines, San Francisco, CA; tel. (877) 389-9463