Picked out at the time of the corresponding Grosses Gewachs harvest, Kuhling-Gillot’s 2011 Niersteiner Pettenthal Riesling Trockenbeerenauslese is alluringly and intriguingly scented with candied lemon and orange rinds partially veiled by yeasty, freshly baked bread, and rendered enticing and mouthwatering by intimations of maritime salinity and alkalinity. There is a surprising sense of lift and retention of primary juiciness here for a wine of such viscosity and creaminess as well as honeyed and confectionary cast. For now though, it doesn’t carry with the intensity or persistence I anticipated (or that I observed in the corresponding trio from Gillot’s husband Spanier), and the sense of sweetness becomes quite overriding as the impression of fresh juiciness drops off. I imagine that this will merit following for decades, though almost certainly it will take several for it to significantly decay.Carolin Gillot has expanded her acreage in Nierstein, and given what seems to be a dearth of growers from that village who are really on top of their game (Strub very much excepted), Riesling lovers must be grateful that some of Germany’s elite vintners who are based nearby (or, in Keller’s case, not all that nearby) have been taking custody of vineyards on the famous Red Slope, where increasingly many of the traditional landholders have in recent years sold their estates and small growers have shown themselves willing to lease after witnessing the meticulous work of a Gillot with neighboring vines. (Such willingness cannot, sadly, be presumed in the world of European wine. On the contrary, it seems more common for small landholders to resist leasing to outsiders out of misplaced communal pride.) This year’s Gillot Grosse Gewachse finished analytically extremely dry, and remained on their full lees until three days before June bottling. The result is an enhancement of fullness and stuffing, though happily at around 13.5% alcohol they evince no significant heat. (Why Gillot neglected to show me her Nackenheimer Rothenberg Grosses Gewachs, though, I can’t explain, and am remiss for having not redressed that omission.)Imported by Domaine Select Wine Estates, New York, NY; tel. (212) 279-0799

From year old vines in the steepest, centrally-situated part of this great wall of Rhine shore red rock, the Kuhling-Gillot 2007 Niersteiner Pettenthal Riesling Grosses Gewachs evinces crushed stone dust, white pepper, narcissus, and smoke allied to orange and grapefruit zest in a singular aromatic display. Brighter, more efficacious (though analytically still-low) acidity vis a vis the Rothenberg helps this maintain energy and refreshment and overcome any tendency toward alcoholic heat, although fresh fruit juiciness and charm are not really part of the picture (as, indeed, they are seldom part of the Grosses Gewachs lexicon). Zesty citrus, with salt, pepper, stone, and smoke are the finishing themes in an impressive wine from a great site that I would be intrigued to follow for 8-10 years. Since taking the reins from her father several years ago, Carolin Gillot has proven to be a dynamo. A showcase modern addition has been made to the beautiful Jugendstil home and cellars in Bodenheim, while vinification – along with a veritable fleet of ancient yet impeccably maintained casks that she and her new husband Oliver Spannier luckily happened-upon in 2007 – has been largely transferred to the cellars of Battenfeld-Spanier in southern Rheinhessen, where the couple are raising their son (soon to be joined by a little brother). All this would of course matter little to readers had not the wines become very good indeed, and following the promising 2006s I tasted, the 2007s and 2008s each mark improvement. This estate’s holdings are in the classic Permian red sandstone of Nierstein’s “Rotem Hang” and the immediately-adjacent and once-famous vineyards of Oppenheim, the Gillot family’s original home base. (Bodenheim’s calcareous sites, too, were once justifiably renowned, but the Gillots have no major holdings there. For an account of the 2007 vintage wines of Battenfeld-Spanier, see elsewhere in this report. The two wineries, incidentally, now have a new legal name in common, which appears in small print on the labels, but can be ignored in descriptive practice.)Imported by Domaine Select Wine Estates, New York, NY; tel. (212) 279-0799