The Haags’ generic wines – including the 2006 Riesling trocken – are now sourced entirely from Brauneberg vineyards: Juffer, Juffer-Sonnenuhr, and Mandelgraben. This juicy, sappy, pristine dry Riesling is rich and quite full, yet vivacious and not heavy, with toasted nut low tones and wet slate suffusion. It reminds me a bit of the 2001 (if not quite as good), of which my last bottle tasted mighty good going down less than a year ago. Ergo, plan to relish this anytime over the next 4-5 years. Oliver and Wilhelm Haag have fielded their third sensational collection in a row, but then, superlatives are hardly new to this address, there are simply more of them this year then ever before. Wilhelm Haag compares 2006 with 1953 – a fabled vintage he remembers helping to harvest as a teenager – for its “desiccated, incredibly healthy botrytis,” adding “I plan to drink these in my second life.” They started picking immediately after October 3, and when I asked Wilhelm Haag whether a particular bottling had been picked early, he laughed and replied “they were all picked early! When I saw the must weights that were coming in, I thought they were too high for Spatlese and even Auslese, and that the wines would be too broad, but I must say, today – even with the botrytis – they have a wonderfully elegant effect.” Importer: Rudi Wiest, Cellars International, Carlsbad, CA; tel. (800) 5960-9463