While Schmid’s Urgestein Bergterrassen bottling of Riesling sourced from his highest-elevation vineyards around Stratzing seemed disappointingly truncated by its de-acidification, his 2010 Riesling Pfaffenberg delivers quite ripe apricot and kiwi mingled with fascinatingly saline, peppery, crystalline, and stony notes that hold the attention though a palpably extract-rich and surprisingly plush palate as well as a persistently refreshing finish. I would plan on enjoying it over the next 4-5 years. I last met with Schmid in order to taste his 2007s (on which I reported in issue 181), and my visit this June confirms him as a source of some seriously delicious and well-priced wines. He opened for me a few of his 2009s as well as his most recent collection. Schmid claims to have had only one-third of a normal crop in 2010 from his 40 acres (which are spread over some 50 parcels). “Some of my old vines didn’t even have any crop on them this year,” he notes.A Monika Caha Selection, New York, NY; tel. (212) 877-3558 with various importers, including Frederick Wildman & Sons, New York, NY; tel. (212) 355-0700