The Kesselstatt 2007 Scharzhofberger Riesling Kabinett smells of peach, pear, musk melon, buddleia, and heliotrope. Lusciously fruity, creamy in texture, delicate, and wafting in its floral palate persistence, it displays an inviting and invigorating salinity along with hints of licorice, malt, caramel, and wet stone that combine for a truly infectious finish. This refined, classy rendition of a great site and an iconic style should remain a joy to drink for at least 15 years. 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.

A delicate white, with brisk acidity marshaling its lime, peach and mineral notes to the finish. Balanced and long, with the textbook weight and profile of a kabinett. Drink now through 2022. 500 cases made.??–BS??Region: Germany / Mosel Select to Add

This plump, medium-bodied kabinett seems destined for early maturity, as it relies on a touch of unreleased CO2 to give it liveliness. Drink it young while it’s still fresh, and before the bold apple, pear and citrus flavors fade.——J.C.(8/1/2009)—— 88