From a mixture chalk and sandstone, the Gies-Duppel 2008 Riesling trocken is bright and sappy, its fresh lime and apple tinged with wood smoke and salt, and persisting with verve and invigoration. It should serve well for 2-3 years, and might even pick up a bit more complexity short-term in bottle. For more about Volker Gies’s promising career and estate, consult my coverage in issue 185. His 2008s – which typically received around 6 hours on their skins in the press – were bottled already in March (and indeed, several were sold out by September). Gies indicated that it rained in his part of the Sudliche Weinstrasse for the better part of a week beginning October 27, so that he was glad to have finished picking shortly before that, but as at neighboring Wehrheim, I found this collection of wines on the whole slightly austere when compared with last year’s.Importer: Tartaglione Fine Wines, San Francisco, CA; tel. (415) 216-3356