Hints of lily, clover, kirsch, nut oils, and delicately pungent herbs rise from the glass of von Hovel 2009 Scharzhofberger Riesling Spatlese trocken, then reappear in polished liquidity, with hints of toasted grain offering counterpoint, leading to a finish generously juicy and underscored by a sensation of wet stone-kissing. This takes advantage of the ripeness of 2009 acids and also displays a delicacy (at 11.5% alcohol) that one too seldom encounters in legally trocken German Riesling of any region, even the Saar. As often the case at this address, there is but one trocken offering in this year's collection, yet although it does not represent a genre dear to the proprietor's heart, that one wine is distinctively delicious and exemplarily well-balanced. A dreadful health crisis from which he is thankfully now slowly recovering put proprietor Eberhard von Kunow entirely out of commission at critical junctures in the evolution of his 2009 crop, one result of which was a collection abbreviated at the upper end of Oechsle.Importer: Rudi Wiest, Cellars International, Carlsbad, CA 800 596 9463