Strawberry and lime in the nose of Christoffel’s 2008 Urziger Wurzgarten Riesling Spatlese migrate to a palate of chiffon-like creaminess and delicacy. Subtle hints of herbal and floral essences add allure to this exceptionally buoyant Riesling which might (today, at least) miss the concentration, dynamic complexity, and near-perfect balance of its Treppchen counterpart, but offers a long, soothing, subtly-satisfying finish. Christoffel and Eymael elected to bottle no separate one star Wurzgarten Spatlese this year. Hans-Leo Christoffel can continue to point out that an abundance of ripeness has made for “Pradikat inflation”, yet even he will admit that his and partner Robert Eymael’s 2008 vintage Kabinetts would have been top-notch Spatlesen during the 1980s, but not Auslesen. Speaking of which, not only did Christoffel and Eymael offer a complete range of 2008 Auslesen, they also did not begin picking any of them until late, insisting that there was not enough rain during harvest to dampen and diminish the value of botrytis as it collected on the grapes. Noble rot affected around 20-30% of the base material for those wines, an impressive group if not (in its early days, at least) on the stellar level often reached at this address.Importer: Terry Theise Estate Selections, imported by Michael Skurnik Wines, Inc., Syosset, NY; tel. (516) 677-9300