Kerpen Wehlener Sonnenuhr Riesling Auslese 3 star

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Kerpen’s “three-star” 2010 Wehlener Sonnenuhr Riesling Auslese*** is overtly ennobled by way of honey, caramel, brown spices and smoky black tea, not to mention its viscous feel. Peach preserves laced with fresh lemon form the foundation on which botrytis operates, although the result is a bit bifurcated, and the finish slightly rough and cheated of juiciness. That said, the brash intensity and diversity of flavors here as well as the sheer persistence of dried fruit and intriguing botrytis notes are impressive in their way. I’d like to witness how this evolves over the next couple of decades, though I wouldn’t want to risk taking a long position on it. Martin Kerpen practiced must-de-acidification on most of his 2010s, and some additional acid-adjustment to certain wines as well, especially (but by no means exclusively) those that fell into the trocken sector. “People went on about the eventual advantageous effects of tartrate precipitation,” says Kerpen, “but I don’t think they took into account just how unusually little tartaric acid there was this year. I had a T.B.A. analyzed that had 16 grams of total acidity and it turned out to have only 3 grams of tartaric!” His example may be extreme, but it reminds one of the general rule that seems to hold in 2010 by which the more botrytized the fruit the higher the acidity stubbornly remained; and it’s possible that the background levels of botrytis in Kerpen’s 2010 grapes as a whole – a background impossible to avoid noticing as one tastes through this collection – also made for relatively high ratios of malic to tartaric acid even by vintage standards. Kerpen suspected that location played a role, and that growers in Urzig had not only lower total acidities but lower ratios of malic than those in Wehlen and Graach. I had to disabuse him of that belief based from my experience! He insists that his latest wines all need time to show their true worth; but I would caution that while there is much that’s fascinating and delicious in this collection, there is even a bit more of a question mark hanging over the future evolution of certain of these wines than over that of typical 2010s from top-notch growers.Importer: Terry Theise Estate Selections, imported by Michael Skurnik Wines, Inc., Syosset, NY; tel. (516) 677-9300

“Now we’re into really full botrytis,” comments Kerpen by way of introducing a “three star” 2006 Wehlener Sonnenuhr Riesling Auslese that reflects near-T.B.A. must weight. Gardenia, mango, musk melon, white raisin and honey inform this oily-textured, thickly-honeyed, spicy, vanilla-tinged elixir. But if one were expecting heaviness, a surprise would be in store. For all of its textural turgidity, this conveys a sense of elegance and lift in its long finish. It just needs time for the sheer sweetness to back off, and one can expect from 10-30 years of something truly exceptional and typical of the vintage’s best. Martin Kerpen and his vines had a hard act to follow after their successes in 2005 but were more than up to the task, confirming the hypothesis that these always excellent wines have crossed a new quality threshold. Still, the last place I would have imagined 2006s keeping pace was in the range of trocken.Importer: Terry Theise Estate Selections, imported by Michael Skurnik Wines, Inc., Syosset, NY; tel. (516) 677-9300

Harvested at just-under T.B.A. minimum must weight, the “three-star” 2005 Wehlener Sonnenuhr Riesling Auslese** smells and tastes of vanilla and butter cream icing, lemon meringue, apple jelly, apricot preserves, and an elixir of distilled herbs. Overtones of black tea and bright citrus add counterpoint to the candied and confectionary main themes of this ultra-rich, incredibly concentrated Auslese, which finishes with formidable thrust and complexity, retaining – as Kerpen outs it – “a strong set of teeth.” Thickly dense without being at all creamy or cuddly, this sets itself apart from its fellow Kerpen Auslesen and suggests a ten or twelve year wait and up to two decades additional aging thereafter would be amply repaid. Importer: Terry Theise Estate Selections, imported by Michael Skurnik Wines, Inc., Syosset, NY; tel. (516) 677-9300