Scents of ripe white peach, heliotrope, and musky peony perfume the Crusius’ 2009 Traiser Rotenfels Riesling Spatlese, along with a prickly hint of lemon rind that anticipates a palate impression lushly ripe, subtly honeyed, yet tartly, juicily invigorating. At 9% alcohol, this is strikingly delicate, and pungent brown spices add to its impressively persistent finishing stimulation. This ought to reward holders handsomely for at least the next 5-6 years. Peter Crusuis’s 2009 collection perpetuates a welcome trend toward qualitative consistency. Moreover, not only could nobody fault these wines for lack of assertive personalities, several deliver genuinely compelling attraction. That Riesling from this address is generally best enjoyed on the early side reflects traits already exhibited by the wines that served as my own introduction, namely those crafted in the ‘70s and ‘80s under Hans Crusius, whose indefatigable labors and unforgettable wit brought this estate to international prominence, and who died in November, 2009. But Riesling doesn’t have to be enormously long-lived to still be timelessly great.Importer: Chambers & Chambers, San Francisco, CA; tel. (415) 642 5500