Fine Normandy cider and grapefruit are suggested on the nose of Busch’s 2007 Pundericher Marienburg Riesling Auslese Fahrlay. Prickly pungency of citrus zest, pineapple, and brown spices with just a hint of caramel on the palate all point to botrytis, but this nonetheless preserves a bright, juicy exuberance and a transparency to crushed stone-like mineral character. A reprise of zesty, spicy pungency in the finish adds to this wine’s fundamentally invigorating and refreshing character, an impression which adeptly-judged sweetness in no way inhibits. I would not hesitate to count on being rewarded with at least 10-12 years of fascination. Clemens Busch – among the Mosel’s few organic vintners, and the undisputed champion of the Lower Mosel’s steep Pundericher Marienburg – is also rapidly demonstrating that he is simply one of the collective Mosel, Saar, and Ruwer’s exceptional talents, not to mention stylistically free spirits. Most of his top wines are labeled with their old pre-1971 site names. Nature thrust on him in 2006 an unprecedented 9 Auslesen (many distinguished only by number), 3 Beerenauslesen, and single T.B.A. (most of which were reviewed in issue 179). In 2007, an at least slightly more normal – not to mention more marketable – balance of dry-tasting (though not always legally trocken) wines was restored, but success, Busch insists, was possible only by dint of great patience and then, when the time was ripe for picking, in great haste. A considerable number of overtly nobly sweet wine was picked in the process, as there was no lack of botrytis in this fungicide-free zone.Mosel Wine Merchant selections (various importers), Trier, Gemany; fax 011 49 (0)651-14551 39; also imported by by Ewald Moseler Selections, Portland OR tel. 888 274 4312