Ripe peach and musky peony perfume scent Kesselers 2009 Rudesheimer Berg Roseneck Riesling Erstes Gewachs, which richly saturates the palate, yet even at 13% alcohol manages to convey a surprising sense of lift as well as beaucoup refreshment. Lime peel and salt contribute a Margarita-like aura, while almond and peach kernel piquancy adds persistence to the finish. This should continue to offer a polished performance for at least the next 7-9 years. August Kesseler and his cellarmaster Max Himstedt promise great things from their 2009 Pinot Noirs but they were not yet ready to show them last September. In light of that allegedly outstanding quality as well as of the difficult market, they decided that their 2008 collection in red should culminate at the Cuvee Max quality level and not include vineyard-designated bottlings. In his usual conservative and market-sensitive approach, Kesseler also elected to bottle from 2009 one of his smallest Riesling collections in memory, inter alia forgoing any attempt to capture what little botrytis was present. Irrigation was critical during the late summer drought, insists Kesseler, “otherwise, we would have harvested grapes in the Rudesheimer Berg of only 80 or 85 Oechsle.”Importer: Vineyard Brands, Birmingham, AL; tel. (205) 980-8802

Harvested in passes between October 29 and November 3, Kesseler’s 2008 Rudesheimer Berg Roseneck Riesling Erstes Gewachs smells of ripe white peach, toasted almond, fresh ginger, grapefruit zest and a whiff of smoke. What follows is as luscious, bright, and pungent as the above litany of aromas would lead one to anticipate. The active sense of tactile impingement on the palate as well as of interplay among fruit, spice, and saline, crystalline mineral notes is both invigorating and riveting, and follows into a long, uplifting, saliva-drawing finish. Incidentally, this impeccably balanced dry Riesling harbors just under 12 grams of residual sugar (already rendering its alcohol 13.1%), so it does not qualify to officially be shown as (or in formal settings alongside!) a VDP Grosses Gewachs. Cellarmaster Max Himstedt said he and August Kesseler had decided they would de-acidity if the acids in Riesling did not drop below a certain level (not a problem in the Rudesheimer Berg, but a potential one in lesser sites of that village and in Lorch). In the event, it was possible to let the fruit hang long enough to avoid this, and after the significant tartrate precipitation of the winter, the measurable acid levels don’t even seem extreme on paper, although brightness is certainly a trait most of their Rieslings this vintage have in common. A sign of the internal assessment of any given vintage at this address is whether two, one, or no Erstes Gewachs bottling is essayed – and Kesseler’s record on that score has been very conservative. In 2008, he bottled two. On the other hand, no sweet wines – botrytized or otherwise – were attempted. The Kesseler 2008 reds were too immature to assess on the occasion of my last visit there, and as usual I have chosen (and he prefers) to offer an assessment of his finished wines, in this instance of 2007.Importer: Vineyard Brands, Birmingham, AL; tel. (205) 980-8802