Mango, banana, pear, and brown spices lend the 2006 Ungsteiner Weilberg Riesling Grosses Gewachs an exotic topicality. Densely concentrated, richly-fruited, and voluminous on the palate, and with slightly detached citricity, this evinces fruit pit bitterness and smoky, chalky mineral suggestions that lend an austere side to its long finish. Impressive though these two Grosse Gewachs are (and either may well improve for 6-10 years in cellar), for now at least, the Herrenberg Spatlese trocken is more fun to drink. Pfeffingen suffered 40% losses vis a vis normal, even though most of their crop had already been picked when the worst rains arrived on October 3rd. Scheurebe was so resistant to the effects of rain, Jan Eymael reports, that they did not even begin picking it until all of the Riesling was finished, and at that point the fruit was still healthy. But not for long: a week later, says Eymael, Beerenauslese could be picked straight from the vine! To compensate for the high acidity in fruit harvested this early, Eymael gave many of his wines significant skin contact in the press, and he was also happy to the extent that the young wines dropped tartrates. But above all, the high extract inherent in this well-watered vintage serves to buffer acidity. The tart, brisk personality of some of this year’s wines thus comes as something of a shock relative to the vintage norm, but not considering the early harvest at this address.Imported by Rudi Wiest, Cellars International, Carlsbad, CA 800 596 9463.