With a nose and palate presence reminiscent of top-notch Normandy cider, Kerpen 2008 Wehlener Sonnenuhr Riesling Spatlese captures the same sense of levity and delicacy as its Himmelreich counterpart, but with better-integrated sweetness and an irresistible amalgam of vanilla, nutmeg, and ginger that helps render the finish a ravishing interchange of fruit, spice, and wet stone. This should keep well for 15 or more years. In recent years, Martin Kerpen has increasingly proven himself a master of dry Riesling, and the acid structure and relatively moderate accumulation of grape sugar relative to phenolic ripeness that characterize 2008 played into his skilled hand in that genre, in which, additionally, he relied increasingly this year on ambient yeasts. (Of course, he is adept with residually sweet Riesling as well.) it's interesting to study Kerpen's detailed map of vineyard parcels, incidentally, and to see how after the controversial Flurbereinigung or general vineyard restructuring and replanting that is now under way in Wehlen, he will end up with around 8-9 parcels - some identical to his current acreage - or about half the number into which his total landholdings are morsellated at present.Importer: Terry Theise Estate Selections, imported by Michael Skurnik Wines, Inc., Syosset, NY; tel. (516) 677-9300

Representing a lot distinguished for its aromatic intensity and finesse as judged in blind tasting rather than by its must weight, the Kerpen 2008 Wehlener Sonnenuhr Riesling Spatlese one star smells of heliotrope and faded lilies that seem to coalesce into liquid form on a creamy palate, with vanilla and musk carrying into an intensely sweet and slightly diffuse palate. This is the only one of Kerpen's for the most part spontaneously-fermented 2008s to be marked by yeastiness and fermentative residues, and may well have clarified short-term. It should be at least a 15-year keeper that reflects the textural allure and buoyancy possible in its vintage, and should prove more enjoyable as its superficial sense of sweetness subsides. In recent years, Martin Kerpen has increasingly proven himself a master of dry Riesling, and the acid structure and relatively moderate accumulation of grape sugar relative to phenolic ripeness that characterize 2008 played into his skilled hand in that genre, in which, additionally, he relied increasingly this year on ambient yeasts. (Of course, he is adept with residually sweet Riesling as well.) it's interesting to study Kerpen's detailed map of vineyard parcels, incidentally, and to see how after the controversial Flurbereinigung or general vineyard restructuring and replanting that is now under way in Wehlen, he will end up with around 8-9 parcels - some identical to his current acreage - or about half the number into which his total landholdings are morsellated at present.Importer: Terry Theise Estate Selections, imported by Michael Skurnik Wines, Inc., Syosset, NY; tel. (516) 677-9300