Kessler professes to like the lower than usual alcohol, higher acidity, and pronounced minerality that accrue to his basic 2007 Spatburgunder trocken, and so do I. Scented with lose hip, almond, and cherry pit, it offers a bright, brown-spiced palate, and infectious juiciness without any obvious sweetness of red or black fruits. Polished in texture and subtly invigorating in finishing salinity, this will prove highly versatile over the next half dozen years, and is one of those wines that even in its youth reminds us Pinot is not always about fruits and berries. 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
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