The generic St. Urbans-Hof 2008 Riesling this year favors fruit from Wiltingen and Leiwen (including declassified Laurentiuslay, although as proprietor Nik Weis is quick to point out, in the context of such a high-volume wine, that contribution is minor). Fresh lime, sage, kirsch, as well as saline and smoky notes grace the nose of this excellent value, which is a bit sweeter and richer – if slightly less infectious – than Weis’s “Urban Riesling” bottling. It needs a year or so to entirely digest its sweetness and allow for enhanced expressiveness and versatility but is already a succulent success. Sankt Urbans-Hof, notes proprietor Nik Weis, experienced a good ten degrees Oechsle difference in 2008 between its ripest Saar fruit – bottled as Spatlese – and that of the Mosel, which reached Auslese level even without stringent selection of botrytis fruit. “We find this a terrific vintage,” remarks Weis – who compares its style with 1998 – “inasmuch as at long last we again have the clear differentiation between Kabinett as it should be, Spatlese, and ennobled Auslese.” Remarkably, there is only a single trocken bottling here this year (from Mehring) which I did not taste and which was destined for the Landhaus Sankt Urban restaurant of Weis’s sister and brother-in-law.Importer: H. B. Wine Merchants, New York, NY; tel. (917)-402-0456

Fresh Jonagold and McIntosh apple aromas and flavors, with a hint of black currant leaf, mark this juicy, vibrant white, which is balanced, leaving a mouthwatering impression. Drink now through 2014. 12,000 cases made, 10,000 cases imported.??–BS??Region: Germany / Mosel Select to Add

There’s more minerality here than one has a right to expect from a Qualitatswein, along with pretty peach and pear fruit, all wrapped in an approachable (but not slack) structure. Drink up. ——W.E.(6/1/2010)—— 84