Bright golden-yellow in color the 2013 Dorsheimer Goldloch Riesling Sp?tlese is a medium-bodied, piquant, enormously salty and racy Riesling with a lovely fruit expression of pineapples and maracuja. It is very pure and really kicking, absolutely stimulating and, at the end of the day, a beautiful liquid drug called Goldloch Sp?tlese. The salinity here is so persistent that you can't stop drinking.

Very clear, coolish and piquant on the nose, the 2012 Dorsheimer Goldloch Riesling Spatlese offers an inviting mix of bright fruits and minerals. The wine is very delicate and almost filigreed on the palate which is the complete opposite to the dry Grosses Gew?chs. The piquancy here is lovely as is the purity, elegance and lingering salinity. This wine is a ballet dancer and always will be. Absolutely delicious!

Overripe musk and Persian melons mingle with juicy white peach and subtly-creamy almond for a delicate and – despite unabashed sheer sweetness – discreetly complex 2011 Dorsheimer Goldloch Riesling Spatlese. Sweetly-perfumed floral and seductively animal rather than mineral nuances carry the day here, culminating in a soothing yet persistently stimulating finish. This should delight for the better part of two decades. Caroline Diel is now the mother of two, but shows every intention and indication of personally staying on top of her estate’s viticulture. In collaboration with long-time cellarmaster Christoph Friedrich, she is both perpetuating and further refining the styles of wine that have come to characterize and enhance the long-standing reputation of Schlossgut Diel. Picking began in the last week of September and most of the top Rieslings were harvested already in the first week of October, by which point there was a significant amount of botrytis, happily largely noble, most of it picked-out in parallel with the fruit for the Grosse Gewachse. Wisely, I think – as heaven knows they have an austere side as is – the Diels elected for the sake of moderating alcohol to leave a bit more residual sugar behind this year than usual in their Grosse Gewachse. Importer: Terry Theise Estate Selections, imported by Michael Skurnik Wines, Inc., Syosset, NY; tel. (516) 677-9300

Wintergreen and sage, fresh lime and apple set the penetrating yet delightfully, metaphorically cooling tone for Schlossgut Diel’s 2010 Dorsheimer Goldloch Riesling Spatlese. Effusively juicy and strikingly delicate, this dances across the palate with spice-dusted feet, while nut oils and a hint of creaminess engender a sense of richness to the finish without the wine’s animation and refreshment letting up. Look for at least 12-15 years of delight. 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

A persistent aura of white raisin and honey – allied to quince preserves, glazed pineapple, and pear nectar – points to the botrytis component that (just as in 2008) Diels incorporated into their 2009 Dorsheimer Goldloch Riesling Spatlese. Yet for all of this wine’s richness and creaminess of texture, it is almost weightlessly delicate and refreshingly juicy. An inner-mouth floral profusion suggestive of iris and lily-of-the-valley wells-up and billows seductively through this beauty’s long finish. Here, too – though not as strikingly as in the corresponding Pittermannchen – there is a salinity that encourages salivation and the desire for the next sip. Look for at least two decades of delight. 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