Candied lime and herbal lozenge unite on the palate of Kruger-Rumpf’s 2010 Munsterer Kapellenberg Riesling Kabinett, with aromatic overtones of sage and eucalyptus serving for penetrating invigoration of a sort that persists in the buoyant finish of this overtly sweet Kabinett even as its texture sooths. I suspect this will not only retain its freshness for at least 6-8 years but may well gain better balance and more definition. 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

The grapes for their 2008 Munsterer Kapellenberg Riesling Kabinett, relate Rumpfs, were fully ripe, indeed on the point of turning from golden to pale purple, yet still not hugely high in must weight (though significantly higher than for the corresponding Rheinberg). Ripe strawberry and pear are nicely supported by the wine’s sweetness, and fresh lime, nut oils and salt add interest on a glossy but buoyant palate and a persistently sappy and saline as well as dynamic finish. Like the Rheinberg, it’s unapologetically but not excessively sweet. Enjoy it over the next ten or a dozen years. 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 Kruger-Rumpf 2006 Munsterer Kapellenberg Riesling Kabinett is Mosel-like in its delicacy and Mittelrhein-like in its saline and stony (apparently quartzite-induced) mineral character. There is some of the drippingly ripe musk melon of so many 2006s, along with fresh, mint-tinged apple and grapefruit in a crisp, juicy finish. Stefan Rumpf’s collections may still – as I wrote of it previously – be “sprawling ... at times hit and miss.” But his aim becomes ever more accurate. (Son Johannes is now intimately involved.) This year, the Rumpfs decided to take advantage of their enhanced acreage of a variety that they would probably have given up on ten years ago had it not been for their importer, and bottle a dry Scheurebe. The timing was perfect, because not only did this estate make some of the only noteworthy Scheurebe of the vintage, but in the Pfalz – even when growers are not challenged as they were in 2006 – Scheurebe is more and more getting marginalized as a “supplemental variety,” destined solely for some of that region’s rare wine of residual sweetness.Importer: Terry Theise Estate Selections, imported by Michael Skurnik Wines, Inc., Syosset, NY; tel. (516) 677-9300

This wine was recommended, but no tasting note was given.Importer: Terry Theise Estate Selections, imported by Michael Skurnik Wines, Inc., Syosset, NY; tel. (516) 677-9300