The Ratzenbergers harvested their 2006 Bacharacher Kloster Furstental Riesling Eiswein on January 26. Pineapple, coconut, and lemon candy aromas are shot through with both nippy horse radish-like and slightly acrid, sweaty notes. Jochen Ratzenberger insists that less than half of the fruit had succumbed to botrytis, but the palate is certainly full of honey and caramel, albeit with the icing-like character familiar from Eiswein. The result is overbearingly sweet and rather undifferentiated. No doubt this could have its uses as a young dessert wine, and permits the streak of Ratzenberger Eiswein – many of these among the greatest of their genre – to continue. But I would not bet on the prospects of long-term cellaring. Without spraying against botrytis, Jochen Ratzenberger Jr. insists that the proper management of the family’s vines and greening between the rows kept rot at bay, but 30% less than a normal volume was harvested. The Ratzenbergers began picking on Septermber 25 and were done on the 12th of October.Imported by Sussex Wine Merchants, Moorestown, NJ; tel. (856) 608 9644