Tangerine and lemon return in the 2006 Monzinger Fruhlingsplatzchen Riesling Spatlese trocken, accompanied by pungent herbal suggestions. Talk about “clarity” and “minerality” in Riesling should become clear if you just attend to a glass of this. Bright, diverse citrus fruits, pungent herbs, and ripe but tart red berries are backed by saline, crushed stone in a supremely refreshing, juicy, dynamic matrix. For all of its treble and seemingly high vitamin C personality, this wine has stuffing, indeed a palpable sense of extract. Typical for well-balanced and versatile examples of trocken German Riesling, it approaches the upper limit allowed by law. Only the strong-willed or those allergic to acidity in wine could possibly resist downing a glass of this on a warm day and asking for the next. But it will also be a fascinating accompaniment for diverse cuisine over at least the next 6-8 years. “The Nahe had the capability to render really good dry wines this year,” asserts Werner Schonleber. “Elsewhere, the botrytis was problematic, or the ripening took place too quickly. But we caught the whole spectrum here.” He proceeded to prove this memorably in the glass, with the finest collection I have ever tasted at this address (as well as – improbably – one in which Fruhlingsplatzchen outperformed Halenberg).Imported by Sussex Wine Merchants, Moorestown, NJ; tel. (856) 608-9644; also imported by Dee Vine Wines, San Francisco, CA; tel. (877) 389-9463