Reichsgraf von Kesselstatt Josepshofer Riesling Spatlese, Mosel, Germany

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The 2010 Josephshofer Riesling Spatlese displays Kesselstatt’s monopole at its oppulent best, with fig, peach, and musk melon succulently and effusively arrayed on an expansive and creamily-textured yet byoyant palate. My only minor “complaint” is that this is really a classic Auslese, an impression reinforced by its mere 8% alcohol and high but by no means mis-deployed 89 grams of residual sugar. Wet stone and rich nut oil suggestions emerge with airing, and the sense of transparency to nuance builds. Expect this beauty to gain depth over the coming decade in bottle not to mention last at least two. Annegret Reh and vineyard manager-cellarmaster Wolfgang Mertes have turned in a 2010 collection reduced in volume (unusually, I tasted it in its entirety) but of impressively consistent excellence, with welcome clarity and focus as well as relatively low-alcohol balance at its drier end. Here is one estate where a direct comparison is possible and the Saar and Ruwer generated more excitement than the Middle Mosel. “What really proved valuable this year,” notes Reh, “was de-leafing” to enhance ventilation, which manifestly didn’t handicap the wines in terms of ripeness. As is typically the case here, too, the wings were often cut off of the clusters, although given the tiny 2010 crop that wasn’t necessary in all parcels. Picking for the top dry wines took place within a fairly narrow window near the end of October – botrytis being carefully eliminated; skin contact being extended; and selected musts being double-salt de-acidified – and they were bottled in July. This geographically wide-ranging and terroir-blessed estate continues to chart a unique stylistic course, in particular with wines labeled “Kabinett” tending increasingly toward very discretely-integrated “hidden” sweetness that renders them extremely versatile at table but in striking contrast to most Mosel wines so-labeled, which tend toward extremely low alcohol and pronounced sweetness, not to mention in contrast with the majority of German Riesling as a whole, which remains fashionably legally trocken.Various importers including P. J. Valckenberg International, Tulsa, OK; tel. (918) 622-0424

Done up in a fancy, lovely package, the 2007 Josephshofer Riesling Spatlese from their monopole vineyard represents something of a flagship for von Kesselstatt, and is correspondingly more expensive than their other Spatlesen, although I cannot say that I have observed any consistent sense of superiority. This year, though, the wine is certainly first class. Nouget-like, honeyed, malted, and subtly caramelized, here is as confectionary a Mosel Riesling Spatlese as one is likely to encounter. It is thus a delightful surprise to find an impression of luscious, peachy juiciness mounting on the palate, along with wafting, heliotrope-like perfume, and a sense of clarity and underlying mineral and spice nuances. This long, polished, opulently rich Riesling should be worth holding for more than two decades, and those who want a more balanced expression of sweetness should expect to wait a decade. A protracted harvest is almost bound to be especially beneficial for an estate with such enormous and widely-scattered vine acreage as that of von Kesselstatt. The acidity in this year’s collection is almost uniformly ripe, and often noticeably low. As usual, a certain austerity accrues to a fair share of Kesslestatt’s many trocken Rieslings (wines from whose labels the last vestiges of Pradikat designations have now disappeared), but happily, alcoholic heat was scarcely a problem here this year. Interestingly, the Saar wines among these were generally especially successful regardless of style. Annegret Reh’s plan in the Kabinett segment, incidentally, is to eventually eliminate the redundancy of having both feinherb (successors to former halbtrocken) and unabashedly sweet bottlings from a single site, but instead work in the direction of merely discreet – i.e. feinherb – sweetness for most of the estate’s Kabinetts. In a sweet style, the Kesselstatt Kabinetts have consistently represented excellent values with ready market-availability, whereas few of the drier Kabinetts (and virtually none of the estate’s trocken Rieslings) seem to make it to the U.S.Various importers including: P. J. Valckenberg International, Tulsa, OK; tel (918) 622-0424.