Weingut Ratzenberger Steeger St. Jost Riesling Kabinett Halbtrocken, Mittelrhein, Germany

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Musky, meaty, saline aromatics mark the nose of Ratzenberger 2007 Steeger St. Jost Kabinett halbtrocken, with sharp suggestions of lemon zest and radish as well as further mineral and carnal nuance emerging on the palate. The level of residual sugar seems awkwardly-judged – at least, for now – as there is a sweet-sour tug, and yet too little sweetness to balance the wine’s sharp and pungent elements. A faintly milky note appears in the finish, along with and despite the wine’s citrus. You can’t fault this on overall concentration, delicacy, or flavor fascination, but in the context of so many strikingly successful renditions from past vintages, it is a bit of a disappointment. Perhaps it will harmonize more, even short-term, and I would be inclined to revisit it by 2011. The delicate and refreshing 1986 – while wanting to be drunk-up – tasted lovely last September from Ratzenbergers’ cellar. “Of course,” jokes Jochen Ratzenberger Sr., “we wouldn’t make a wine at 75 Oechsle any more, and it wouldn’t sell, either!” Perhaps that’s a pity. Jochen Ratzenberger Jr. expressed delight with his 2007s, and even though I’m straining to recollect a vintage with which he wasn’t pleased, the truth is, he and his father comprise one of the most consistently high-performance teams in German viticulture, and their 2007 collection is consistently impressive. Both of the Ratzenbergers’ 2007 vintage Grosse Gewachse – in what has been fairly typical behavior – finished fermenting only in mid-August, and were immediately bottled with barely enough time to appear at the annual Berlin Presentation of Germany’s collective wines in this genreImported by Sussex Wine Merchants, Moorestown, NJ; tel. (856) 608 9644