Labeled for its specific site of origin (not far from the river’s edge and the town’s sundial), the 2008 Urziger Wurzgarten Riesling Spatlese Kranklay offers a more pungent expression of herbs than its fellow Erbes Rieslings, allied to honey-glazed fresh pear and strawberry, and exhibiting some of the same delightfully weightless yet mouth-filling sense of lime chiffon as accrued to the feinherb rendition. Stefan Erbes has been attracting considerable positive attention even in the relatively residual sugar-adverse German press, so I thought it high time to meet and taste with him. A sizeable percentage of old, ungrafted vines and ambitious quality-consciousness on his part are combining for some very good, ultra-clean, largely tank-rendered, and modestly-priced Riesling, most of it – predictably – sold abroad, particularly in Japan. His 2008s struck me as surprisingly soft in their impression of acidity, which Erbes attributes in part to a combination of skin contact and high tartrate precipitation.Importers include Boston Wine Company, Somerville, MA; tel. (617) 628-5967 and Winebow, Montvale, NJ; tel. (201) 445-0620

Mint, strawberry, and banana in the nose of Erbes’ 2008 Urziger Wurzgarten Riesling Spatlese take a rather confectionary turn on the palate, with enough primary juiciness to give refreshing satisfaction, and hints of salted caramel adding interest in the finish. This very sweet but pure, site-typical Spatlese will certainly keep well for at least 12-15 years. Stefan Erbes has been attracting considerable positive attention even in the relatively residual sugar-adverse German press, so I thought it high time to meet and taste with him. A sizeable percentage of old, ungrafted vines and ambitious quality-consciousness on his part are combining for some very good, ultra-clean, largely tank-rendered, and modestly-priced Riesling, most of it – predictably – sold abroad, particularly in Japan. His 2008s struck me as surprisingly soft in their impression of acidity, which Erbes attributes in part to a combination of skin contact and high tartrate precipitation.Importers include Boston Wine Company, Somerville, MA; tel. (617) 628-5967 and Winebow, Montvale, NJ; tel. (201) 445-0620