Pear and lemon with prominent piquancy of their pips dominate Kruger-Rumpf’s 2010 Munsterer Pittersberg Riesling Grosses Gewachs, its firm feel and stony undertone reinforcing a sense of austerity. This certainly clings impressively implacably. But it lacks sheer juiciness that accrues to its non-Grosses Gewachs Pittersberg trocken counterpart. (Georg Rumpf says that the choice of parcels varies with the lots chosen for the respective wines, and needless to say he and his father are of the opinion that the best material has been selected for the Grosses Gewachs.) I would count someone overly optimistic if not brave who chose to hold some of this, though no doubt it has a few years of sheer stamina and oxygen-resistance in it. Stefan and Georg Rumpf’s 2010 collection was one of those, whose stubbornly-dry trocken Rieslings more than just occasionally tended toward an angularity, bitterness, and tartness that I doubt they will entirely outgrow. The Rumpfs de-acidified selectively, sometimes in must and sometimes to young wine. Skin contact was favored as a check on acids, though that may arguably have reinforced bitterness. Bottling times were pushed back by about a month, though in the context of such late harvest that means essentially the usual length of elevage. Incidentally, I found the Rumpf’s two 2009 Spatburgunder bottlings to have been diminished by the quality of barriques employed and/or the wine’s length of exposure to wood, specifically by faintly rancid overtones and a tendency toward drying in the finish.Importer: Terry Theise Estate Selections, imported by Michael Skurnik Wines, Inc., Syosset, NY; tel. (516) 677-9300

Kruger-Rumpf’s 2008 Munsterer Pittersberg Riesling Grosses Gewachs plays variations on the same citrus, pit fruit, and stone themes that characterized their less-expensive dry Pittersberg bottling. The difference at present is largely in this wine’s greater volume, more intense concentration, and marginally riper suggestions of melon and peach. Certain, though, this is a more imposing than it is a winsome wine, and I’d want to revisit this in 2010 or 2011 before laying odds on longer-term evolution. Nearly all of the dry 2008 Kruger-Rumpf Rieslings, incidentally – including their trio of Grosse Gewachse – are only in the 4-5 gram residual sugar range. The Rumpfs seem in 2008 to have had to struggle less to avoid the greenness that was observed in certain of their 2007s. “There was just nothing you could do this year,” comments Georg Rumpf, “except let the fruit hang a long time on the vine.”Importer: Terry Theise Estate Selections, imported by Michael Skurnik Wines, Inc., Syosset, NY; tel. (516) 677-9300

The 2004 Munsterer Pittersberg Riesling Grosses Gewachs has a more powerful aroma and flavors than its Dautenpflanzer counterpart. Smoky and peachy in the nose, it charges onto the palate with black fruit and slightly bitter herbal notes, then sustains a strong if not particularly refined finish of black and pit fruits with accompanying smoke but no heat. Importer: Terry Theise Estate Selections, imported by Michael Skurnik Wines, Inc., Syosset, NY; tel. (516) 677-9300