2007 Riesling CO – from the estate’s oldest vines, and far more expensive ex-cellar than even their Grosses Gewachs bottlings – is a successor to a 2005 CO that served as Gillot and Spanier’s wedding cuvee. Dry (though not labeled trocken), it combines impressive sheer density and bright citrus character with a somewhat blowsy, alcoholically warm back end not redeemed by the wines acid’s, which instead seem detached. The intention is to have a Riesling that will age well for a decade, but all I can say is it’s getting off to an awkward start.Oliver Spanier farms organically and, increasingly, biodynamically in the southwestern corner of Rheinhessen, which benefits from the cool breezes of the so-called Eisbach Valley, and hence from potentially above-average hang-time. As part of the married Gillot-Spanier team (see elsewhere in this report under Kuhling-Gillot) he is a prime example of the excitement (and increasingly high prices) that young growers in former “hinterlands” are generating. (If one goes back hundreds of years, though, the chalky vineyards of Rheinhessen’s Wonnegau sub-region enjoyed prestige.) I tasted only a portion of this estate’s 2007s and shall render a fuller report on Spanier’s yet-better 2008s.Imported by Domaine Select Wine Estates, New York, NY; tel. (212) 279-0799