Village-typical lime and dark cherry scent and juicily inform the silken palate of Thanisch’s 2010 Bernkasteler Badstube Riesling Kabinett, hints of fresh ginger, lemon zest, salt, and crushed stone adding interest to its satisfyingly refreshing finish. Even at 9% alcohol – higher than usual for this genre chez Thanisch – there is no deficiency of levity in the present instance, and amazingly high 11.5 grams acidity manages to be almost perfectly balanced by the wine’s high residual sugar, i.e. without engendering any significant sense of bifurcation. “To be sure,” comments Thanisch, “these (2010s) aren’t genuine Kabinetts, and one could as easily have written ‘Spatlese’ on their labels.” I would anticipate 7-10 years of pleasure. Sofia Thanisch bottled only what she considered the commercially-dictated minimum of trocken and halbtrocken wine (which she did not offer me to taste) from 2010, and tended toward leaving behind higher than usual levels of residual sugar in the vintage’s other bottlings. De-acidification was via calcium carbonate (sometimes as must; sometimes as wine) and quite restrained, finished levels often remaining fearlessly, indeed almost freakishly high. Overall level of production was down 40% form long-term norms. Various importers, including P. J. Valckenberg International, Tulsa, OK; tel. (918) 622-0424