The Kesselstatt 2007 Kaseler Nies’chen Riesling Spatlese has left behind the gooseberry or red currant displayed by other Kesselstatt Nies’chen bottlings of this vintage for overt black currant and sage that could be from Scheurebe (or Goldtropfchen!), seeming less Sauvignon-like than in so many Ruwer wines of this vintage. A problem arises on the palate, though, in the form of sweetness that obliterates what might be finer points and inhibits a sense of refreshment in the finish. Imagine a mint, honey, and cassis candy and you have the idea. But there is no denying this wine’s polish or sheer length, and it will I am sure keep fresh for at least 12-15 years, probably eventually becoming better-balanced. 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.