Poached pear, cassis, dark cherry, fresh lime, and nut oils scent the Kerpen 2009 Bernkasteler Bratenhofchen Riesling Spatlese and spill lusciously onto a glycerin-rich, yet lively and buoyant palate. Savory salinity and wet stone offer further interest to a superbly succulent and persistent finish. Here’s yet another impeccably-balanced residually sweet Kerpen Riesling that should fare well for two decades if not beyond. Martin Kerpen’s 2009 collection Rieslings possess uncommon brightness for their vintage, and he continues to excel across a blessedly broad stylistic range, from legally trocken through nobly sweet – and, more importantly, with plenty of successful stops in-between. It’s worth noting that Kerpen is especially keen on the quality of his nobly sweet 2009s – wines that are certainly close to off-the-charts on paper – although as readers can see, my praise for them is more selective.Importer: Terry Theise Estate Selections, imported by Michael Skurnik Wines, Inc., Syosset, NY; tel. (516) 677-9300

Cherry soda, root beer, sassafras, and lime peel in the nose of Kerpen's 2008 Bernkasteler Bratenhofchen Riesling Spatlese are joined on the palate by luscious, ripe Persian melon and cherry as well as lily-like inner-mouth floral perfume. This finishes with real flourish and succulence, the piquancy of brown spices and citrus peel adding to its memorable appeal. I would feel free to follow this beauty for 12-15 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

Site-typical cherry and lime scent Kerpen’s 2006 Bernkasteler Bratenhofchen Riesling Spatlese. Lushly-textured and ripe, yet brightly refreshing and cooling in its citrus and mint, this displays a distinctly alkaline and slightly fusil aspect that suggest more evolution than most of the wines in this year’s Kerpen collection. Despite a mere 8.5% alcohol, this is not overly sweet, but it is enormously expressive and impressively persistent. My intuition is that it will be best drunk on the early side, by which for this category I mean within 10-12 years. While Martin Kerpen’s extensive array of dry Rieslings from 2007 is not on quite the superlative order of their immediate predecessors, his residually sweet wines are again highly successful.Importer: Terry Theise Estate Selections, imported by Michael Skurnik Wines, Inc., Syosset, NY; tel (516) 677-9300

Kerpen’s 2004 Bernkasteler Bratenhofchen Riesling Spatlese offers a site-typical aroma of black cherry, brown spices, and smoky minerality, mingled with the pineapple flavors so frequently encountered in this vintage. The ripe, concentrated palate impression combines vivid, lightly-cooked black cherry laced with fresh, invigorating pineapple and lime, with a very flattering hint of textural creaminess and a seemingly ideal overall balance of sweetness and acidity. The finish is penetrating, clear, and enervating. Importer: Terry Theise Estate Selections, imported by Michael Skurnik Wines, Inc., Syosset, NY; tel. (516) 677-9300