Schlossgut Diel Dorsheimer Goldloch Riesling Grosses Gewachs, Nahe, Germany

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High-toned suggestions of mint, basil, and other herbal essences in distilled form mingle and rise from the glass of Diel’s 2010 Dorsheimer Goldloch Riesling Grosses Gewachs, then saturate a satin-textured palate, with fruit pit and toasted nut piquancy as well as palpable chalkiness adding interest, while a juicy fundament of peach and citrus persists through a refreshingly persistent, animatedly interactive, and coolingly cleansing finish. This offers admirably and unusually generous early appeal for a Riesling of its genre and I suspect it will sustain interest – not to mention delight – over the better part of a decade. While her famous father Armin naturally continues as a trusted advisor, it is evident in conversation as well from continued adjustments in methodology that Caroline Diel is settling into her role as hands-on manager of this great estate, clearly positioning it as one of those lucky enough to receive the special benefits and blessings that can accrue to felicitous multi-generational collaboration. Selective double-salt de-acidification was performed here in 2010 – occasionally even in lots destined for residually sweet wines – and skin contact encouraged. Alcohol levels for this year’s Grosse Gewachse are in the moderate, 12.5-13% range.Importer: Terry Theise Estate Selections, imported by Michael Skurnik Wines, Inc., Syosset, NY; tel. (516) 677-9300

Intimations of peat, crushed stone, and chalk in the nose of the Diel 2009 Dorsheimer Goldloch Riesling Grosses Gewachs – when taken with considerable piquancy of lemon rind and peach kernel – make for a relatively austere performance. That’s not, however, to say that this is unimpressive, and its silken texture and sense of breadth offer an appropriate foil for its sense of mineral suffusion and piquancy. The effect is more formidable than loveable to be sure, but this wine’s grip, too, is impressive, and it ought to be well worth following over the next half dozen years. Caroline Diel’s 2009 collection is noteworthy not only for a range of outstanding Riesling such as has long been anticipated (though seldom bettered) at this estate, but also for a set of wines from the Pinot family – all, incidentally, now labeled with French rather than German names for their varieties – that in my estimation mark a significant up-tick in quality. That this estate has been famous in Germany for its work with Pinots ever since Armin Diel assumed charge in 1987 and began barrique vinification, I am of course well aware. But only in recent years have I witnessed tendencies to restrain the influence of new wood and to encourage real subtlety, which seem to me prerequisites for achieving with these varieties anything remotely approaching the class of Schlossgut Diel’s Rieslings. The 2009 Pinots were harvested in mid-October and most of the Rieslings in the two weeks following. The superb botrytis selections were all picked-out ahead of even the Pinots.Importer: Terry Theise Estate Selections, imported by Michael Skurnik Wines, Inc., Syosset, NY; tel. (516) 677-9300

Grapefruit, pineapple, yellow plum, and white peach in the nose of the Diel 2008 Dorsheimer Goldloch Riesling Grosses Gewachs lead into a tart, bright, and intensely smoky palate. Citrus zest, peach fuzz, fruit pits, and a positively smarting tang of pineapple inform a pungent, chewy, smoke-covered, and salted, and brown spice-dusted finish. It will be fascinating to follow its evolution for a decade or more, though with Rieslings like this I worry that the bitter and austere elements might become more prominent. Caroline Diel is taking the reins at her family’s estate, and results in 2008 are as impressive as one would have expected given the track record at this address. The team here did not start harvesting until the third week in October and picked for nearly a month, due to which lateness the measurable acid levels (which were not adjusted) were relatively low by vintage standards, but the impression of acidity was more than vivacious and efficacious enough. On a quest for purity and authenticity, the Diels did not include in their bench trials for the blending of Grosse Gewachse any small lots of off-dry wine such as might in past have been employed expressly to fine-tune the finished levels of residual sugar. Instead, they let the blends all remain quite dry. Armin Diel has for at least the past dozen years championed and cherished the Mosel stylistic ideals of delicacy and of high residual sugar balanced against acidity. His choices of Mosel-born cellar master Martin Franzen (now of Muller-Catoir), and more recently of Moselaner Christoph Friedrich, testify to this proclivity. But there has never been a better vintage in which to give these ideals fluid realization. So if you are a lover of Kabinetts and Spatlesen from the likes of Joh. Jos. Prum, Willi Schaefer, or the Haags, do not miss the show Caroline and Armin Diel have put on this year, and that could be playing in your cellar any night over the next two decades!Terry Theise Estate Selections, imported by Michael Skurnik Wines, Inc., Syosset, NY; tel. (516) 677-9300