Toni Jost Wallufer Walkenberg Riesling Spatlese

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From their Rheingau estate, the Josts’ 2008 Wallufer Walkenberg Riesling Spatlese smells unexpectedly and alluringly of saffron, along with peaches, melon, and red berries. Quite lush and juicy on the palate, its sweetness is only just noticeable, but thanks to it, the alcohol is only 8.5%, so there is that suggestion of weightlessness with mineral grounding that one can get in German Rieslings, including those from the Rheingau – except, very few growers there bottle a wine at all like this now, as a rule either they’re trocken or very sweet. And there’s a lovely, metaphorically “cooling” herbal side to this and lip-smacking primary fruit juiciness and salinity in the finish. What’s more, this elegant exercise in a nearly forgotten genre from a well-known and often over-priced region represents very good value and would merit following for at least a dozen years. “This is a wine for specialists, and for those who remember what such wines were like,” suggests Cecilia Jost, to which I can’t help but reply, “you mean, unlike somebody your age!” Young Cecilia Jost is taking charge of the cellar here. In 2008, though, she was tied up with a commitment to harvest in Austria, so Peter and Linde Jost were still calling the shots. Given the ripening tendencies of the Jost’s great, steep, near-monopole Hahn (which is the reason Josts have now planted a site high above it to try to get back to real Kabinett) as well as the lees contact that Peter Jost favors, the 2008 vintage offered a possible antidote to high alcohol, lack of transparency or massiveness that are occasionally exhibited at this address, while permitting a later harvest than Josts have “enjoyed” (assuming you consider that the right word) in some years, lasting until November 10. Terry Theise Estate Selections, imported by Michael Skurnik Wines, Inc., Syosset, NY; tel. (516) 677-9300