Kruger-Rumpf’s 2008 Binger Scharlachberg Riesling Grosses Gewachs is their most successful exercise in adamantly dry Riesling this vintage. Smoky, ripely citric, and pit-fruited and red berry aromas lead into a palate of sappy, well-concentrated, but refreshing fruit, tart and minerally-marked, but free of severity. The long finish is blazingly bright and invigoratingly saline as well as literally saliva-inducing and lip-smacking in a way that its two Grosses Gewachs siblings were not. This represents the smallest and most perfectly ripe berries of the vintage, notes Stefan Rumpf. It should be interesting to follow for at least 5-7 years, though hopefully for longer. The Rumpfs seem in 2008 to have had to struggle less to avoid the greenness that was observed in certain of their 2007s. “There was just nothing you could do this year,” comments Georg Rumpf, “except let the fruit hang a long time on the vine.”Importer: Terry Theise Estate Selections, imported by Michael Skurnik Wines, Inc., Syosset, NY; tel. (516) 677-9300