Offering more pronounced fruit pit and citrus rind piquancy as well as pithy intensity and (at 14% alcohol, even with 11 grams of residual sugar) more sheer power than its Berg Roseneck counterpart, Kesselers 2009 Rudesheimer Berg Schlossberg Riesling Erstes Gewachs features dried pit fruit and toasted nut flavors on an opulent, plush-textured and expansive palate. While I dont perceive outright heat or roughness, this wines alcohol is probably a good part of the reason why it delivers less stimulation, refreshment, or interactive interest than the best of its vintage. I would plan on drinking it over the next 3-5 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