Weingut Karlsmuhle Lorenzhofer Riesling Eiswein, Mosel, Germany

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While Peter Geiben said he thought there was enough Auslese currently available from his estate without trying to make the extra effort to harvest one in 2008, a 2008 Lorenzhofer Riesling Eiswein reflects his having succumbed to the siren song of another category for which he has over the past two decades become well known. This December 29 picking was clearly no longer of completely healthy fruit, and Geiben – who wraps his intended Eiswein fruit in plastic film – has always insisted that the widespread belief Eiswein should be from botrytis-free grapes is wrongheaded. Scents of gardenia, quince and apricot preserves, and caramel lead into a smoothly-polished and not at all aggressive palate with honey and caramel elements of botrytis and a faint prickle of Eiswein typical lemon rind and pit fruit distillates. Nut oils, fruit preserves, marzipan, caramel, malt and brown spices inform a long and for the genre surprisingly low-toned and gentle finish that carries considerable superficial sweetness but also reflects vintage-typical buoyancy. It will be interesting to follow this, but I would not assume that it will be worth cellaring for more than a decade, and one might well want to try pairing it with deserts already in its youth.Peter Geiben’s 2008 results were irregular, with some wines too aggressive in their parsnip-like herbal pungency and too opaque as opposed to transparent to count as ideal representations of this estate and its vineyards, while others were distinguished. Geiben says he had bought the requisite preparations and was all set in December to de-acidify some of his young wines, “but then I tasted again in January, and I thought: ‘where’d all that sourness go?’ In the end, I only de-acidified two or three wines.” The main reason for this transformation was simply tartrate precipitation, Geiben opines. Only in March or April though, he insists – echoing many other growers this year – did the wines start to show their positive side. Incidentally, this year all of the wines here fermented spontaneously, and a number of them show it in yeasty, fermentative overlay that needs time to dissipate.Importer: Terry Theise Estate Selections, imported by Michael Skurnik Wines, Inc., Syosset, NY; tel. (516) 677-9300