Busch harvested his 2007 Pundericher Marienburg Riesling Spatlese gold capsule in late October, which was actually early for him in the context of this vintage. Pineapple, vanilla, and licorice in the nose and mouth are allied to a crushed stone sense of minerality and to a firmer feel and more palpable sense of density than in the corresponding “regular” Spatlese, although its finish lacks that wine’s striking delicacy. For sheer generosity of fruit, this is hard to beat, but over the coming decade it may well display considerably more nuance. Clemens Busch – among the Mosel’s few organic vintners, and the undisputed champion of the Lower Mosel’s steep Pundericher Marienburg – is also rapidly demonstrating that he is simply one of the collective Mosel, Saar, and Ruwer’s exceptional talents, not to mention stylistically free spirits. Most of his top wines are labeled with their old pre-1971 site names. Nature thrust on him in 2006 an unprecedented 9 Auslesen (many distinguished only by number), 3 Beerenauslesen, and single T.B.A. (most of which were reviewed in issue 179). In 2007, an at least slightly more normal – not to mention more marketable – balance of dry-tasting (though not always legally trocken) wines was restored, but success, Busch insists, was possible only by dint of great patience and then, when the time was ripe for picking, in great haste. A considerable number of overtly nobly sweet wine was picked in the process, as there was no lack of botrytis in this fungicide-free zone.Mosel Wine Merchant selections (various importers), Trier, Gemany; fax 011 49 (0)651-14551 39; also imported by by Ewald Moseler Selections, Portland OR tel. 888 274 4312