Weingut Kerpen Graacher Himmelreich Riesling Spatlese, Mosel, Germany

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Apple, lemon, and pineapple scent and brightly inform the palate of Kerpen’s 2010 Graacher Himmelreich Riesling Spatlese. High residual sugar engenders a certain sweet-tart bifurcation with the wine’s prominent acidity, but a hint of creaminess and the knowledge that like so many Rieslings of its vintage this boasts extremely high extract, hold out hope for greater future reconciliation. Piquant nuttiness and hints of wet stone add interest to the admirably persistent finish of this concentrated if slightly awkward Spatlese that should remain fresh for at least a decade. Martin Kerpen practiced must-de-acidification on most of his 2010s, and some additional acid-adjustment to certain wines as well, especially (but by no means exclusively) those that fell into the trocken sector. “People went on about the eventual advantageous effects of tartrate precipitation,” says Kerpen, “but I don’t think they took into account just how unusually little tartaric acid there was this year. I had a T.B.A. analyzed that had 16 grams of total acidity and it turned out to have only 3 grams of tartaric!” His example may be extreme, but it reminds one of the general rule that seems to hold in 2010 by which the more botrytized the fruit the higher the acidity stubbornly remained; and it’s possible that the background levels of botrytis in Kerpen’s 2010 grapes as a whole – a background impossible to avoid noticing as one tastes through this collection – also made for relatively high ratios of malic to tartaric acid even by vintage standards. Kerpen suspected that location played a role, and that growers in Urzig had not only lower total acidities but lower ratios of malic than those in Wehlen and Graach. I had to disabuse him of that belief based from my experience! He insists that his latest wines all need time to show their true worth; but I would caution that while there is much that’s fascinating and delicious in this collection, there is even a bit more of a question mark hanging over the future evolution of certain of these wines than over that of typical 2010s from top-notch growers.Importer: Terry Theise Estate Selections, imported by Michael Skurnik Wines, Inc., Syosset, NY; tel. (516) 677-9300