The 2006 Rudesheimer Berg Rottland Riesling Auslese Gold Capsule suggests melon liqueur, mint distillate, musk, and honey in its high-toned, slightly prickly aromatic melange. Silky-smooth in texture and impressively mouth-coating in its long, honeyed, subtly caramelized, soothing finish, this is brighter in cast, with better-integrated sweetness than the corresponding Berg Roseneck, and its persistent suggestion of herbal distillates has a welcome cooling effect (metaphorically-speaking) in the context of fruit so decadently ripe and incipiently caramelized as that of 2006. It should be worth cellaring for 10-12 years at least, but whether longer bottle age will be justified I would not care to guess. Heinrich Breuer and Hermann Schmoranz began their Riesling harvest October 6, and finished in record time. Selective picking and watchful decantation and selection of the musts, rather than the use of treatments, was the approach taken here to the problematic health and botrytis of the vintage. The results included a 40% reduction in volume over their recent average.Imported by Classical Wines, Seattle, WA; tel. (206) 547-0255