Reichsgraf von Kesselstatt Brauneberger Juffer Sonnenuhr Riesling Grosses Gewachs, Mosel, Germany

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A Kesselstatt 2010 Brauneberger Juffer-Sonnenuhr Riesling Grosses Gewachs leads with a slightly dank but certainly overtly and appropriately stony note, which then mingles with apple and citrus rind for a firm, rather austerely lean palate performance. Zesty, fusil, cyanic, and pithily stony elements extend the finish in a manner consistent with the overall austerity of a wine I would plan on drinking over the next several years. I don’t doubt Mertes’ testimony that this was harvested entirely from tiny green-golden berries with any speck of botrytis removed. That claim is the pride of many an author of Grosse Gewachse; yet, if the results are this lean and austere to what end? Annegret Reh and vineyard manager-cellarmaster Wolfgang Mertes have turned in a 2010 collection reduced in volume (unusually, I tasted it in its entirety) but of impressively consistent excellence, with welcome clarity and focus as well as relatively low-alcohol balance at its drier end. Here is one estate where a direct comparison is possible and the Saar and Ruwer generated more excitement than the Middle Mosel. “What really proved valuable this year,” notes Reh, “was de-leafing” to enhance ventilation, which manifestly didn’t handicap the wines in terms of ripeness. As is typically the case here, too, the wings were often cut off of the clusters, although given the tiny 2010 crop that wasn’t necessary in all parcels. Picking for the top dry wines took place within a fairly narrow window near the end of October – botrytis being carefully eliminated; skin contact being extended; and selected musts being double-salt de-acidified – and they were bottled in July. This geographically wide-ranging and terroir-blessed estate continues to chart a unique stylistic course, in particular with wines labeled “Kabinett” tending increasingly toward very discretely-integrated “hidden” sweetness that renders them extremely versatile at table but in striking contrast to most Mosel wines so-labeled, which tend toward extremely low alcohol and pronounced sweetness, not to mention in contrast with the majority of German Riesling as a whole, which remains fashionably legally trocken.Various importers including P. J. Valckenberg International, Tulsa, OK; tel. (918) 622-0424