The 2006 Nackenheimer Rothenberg Spatlese displays even more lift and delicacy than the Jean Baptiste Kabinett, with a chiffon or sherbet-like expression of tangerine, peach, green tea, honey, and a hint of vanilla. This wonderfully refreshing and elegant Spatlese – Mosel-like in its sense of lightness and interaction with smoky, stony mineral notes – completely belies its high must weight and residual sugar and is certainly not Auslese-like except on paper. Orange blossom and heliotrope waft through to a long, refined finish. Enjoy this over the next 8-10 years, although it may well last considerably longer. There was fruit desiccation (no doubt one reason for the sense of lightness and vivacious acidity), but no visibly botrytized berries, assistant winemaker Charlotte Hess hastens to assure me. “But overnight the berries could go from gold to pink,” adds Agnes Hasselbach, voicing a by now familiar 2006 vintage theme.
“We had the advantage of staying fog-free both mornings and evenings” in October, relates Agnes Hasselbach, allowing for longer work hours and marginally less rot pressure. Still, harvest was a hair-raising scramble as elsewhere; there was hail (previously practically unknown in the Rothenberg) in July, as well as inopportune autumn rain; and the crop was down 25% from that of 2005.
Importer: Rudi Wiest, Cellars International, Carlsbad, CA; tel. (800) 596-9463
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