Weingut Kerpen Wehlener Sonnenuhr Riesling Kabinett, Mosel, Germany

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Kerpen’s 2010 Wehlener Sonnenuhr Riesling Kabinett displays an admirable sense of lift, but its apple fruit isn’t just tinged with vanilla and brown spices, but also with musky narcissus-like floral perfume and a faintly decadent as well as cheesy overtone. A slightly detached tartness of lime adds a welcome sense of invigoration. But I question whether this will knit (or have by now knitted), and wonder whether negative notes of botrytis might prove too much for its relatively delicate constitution. Martin Kerpen practiced must-de-acidification on most of his 2010s, and some additional acid-adjustment to certain wines as well, especially (but by no means exclusively) those that fell into the trocken sector. “People went on about the eventual advantageous effects of tartrate precipitation,” says Kerpen, “but I don’t think they took into account just how unusually little tartaric acid there was this year. I had a T.B.A. analyzed that had 16 grams of total acidity and it turned out to have only 3 grams of tartaric!” His example may be extreme, but it reminds one of the general rule that seems to hold in 2010 by which the more botrytized the fruit the higher the acidity stubbornly remained; and it’s possible that the background levels of botrytis in Kerpen’s 2010 grapes as a whole – a background impossible to avoid noticing as one tastes through this collection – also made for relatively high ratios of malic to tartaric acid even by vintage standards. Kerpen suspected that location played a role, and that growers in Urzig had not only lower total acidities but lower ratios of malic than those in Wehlen and Graach. I had to disabuse him of that belief based from my experience! He insists that his latest wines all need time to show their true worth; but I would caution that while there is much that’s fascinating and delicious in this collection, there is even a bit more of a question mark hanging over the future evolution of certain of these wines than over that of typical 2010s from top-notch growers.Importer: Terry Theise Estate Selections, imported by Michael Skurnik Wines, Inc., Syosset, NY; tel. (516) 677-9300

Apple, fresh lime and vanilla in the nose of Kerpen’s 2009 Wehlener Sonnenuhr Riesling Kabinett lead to a surprisingly citric, bright palate, yet there is subtle creaminess of texture that – along with the wine’s sheer levity – render it almost incongruously delicious in a manner possible only with German Riesling Kabinett. At 9.5% alcohol, this is less light (in theory at least) than most of today’s sweet Mosel Kabinetts, but by that same token, it’s sweetness is, happily, judicious and perfectly integrated. This excellent value should remain delightful for the better part of two decades.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

Surprisingly tropical scented in its suggestions of mango and pineapple allied to lily-like, perfumed sweetness, vanilla, and almond extract, Kerpen's 2008 Wehlener Sonnenuhr Riesling Kabinett is correspondingly lush for its vintage and Pradikat, yet at the same time displays uncanny lift and consummate refreshment. This outstanding value finishes with impeccably-balanced sweetness and the slate-typical kiss of wet stone, promising at least a dozen years of delight. 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