From their monopole, the Kesselstatt 2008 Josephshofer Riesling Grosses Gewachs displays scents and flavors of ripe peach and apple, grapefruit, and site-typical nut oils. Quite plush and lush on the palate it finishes with bittersweet persistence of candied grapefruit rind and toasted pecan. Don’t look for charm, refreshment, or vintage-typical levity here, but there are intimations of profundity that might point toward a rewarding evolution over the next 5-7 years. Annegret Reh’s 2008s display their acids somewhat more prominently than did her 2007s. While for the second year running neither alcoholic heat nor roughness were an impediment to her penchant for dry Grosse Gewachse, this did not mean that the trocken end of the spectrum here was always that ideally-balanced, as there was not only tartness but considerable bitterness to deal with as well. This enormous estate has made great strides, but I think that stylistically they could be more sensitive to the message of their terrific vineyards, at least to the extent that their customer base allows (since the Germans demand of them trocken). In my view, Reh’s move toward more flexibility with and a wider range of residual sugar in the off-dry half of the Kesselstatt portfolio, especially Kabinett, is an excellent step in that direction, but “Grosse Gewachse” of 10-15 grams residual sugar would be an even better one! Incidentally, machine harvesters (first used here, as at many top-notch German estates, in the hectic 2006 vintage) were employed this year in some of the more accessible and less distinguished sites in order to buy time for the entire crop to hang longer, although even so, picking began in mid-October, and concluded November 8.Various importers including: P. J. Valckenberg International, Tulsa, OK; tel. (918) 622-0424

From their monopole, the Kesselstatt 2007 Josephshofer Riesling Grosses Gewachs preserves the toasted character of the corresponding Goldtropfchen but without its nutty richness. Its combination of wet stone and citrus zest push it further in the direction of bitterness and abundant acids express themselves in a certain angularity rather than refreshment. There is also a distinct spiciness which I trace to the cask (this being the exception among Kesselstatt wines for having sojourned in barrel.) Certainly this exhibits formidable sheer concentration as well as a sense of energy, and perhaps it will settle down and harmonize with a couple of years in bottle. I don’t feel capable of handicapping its further evolution. A protracted harvest is almost bound to be especially beneficial for an estate with such enormous and widely-scattered vine acreage as that of von Kesselstatt. The acidity in this year’s collection is almost uniformly ripe, and often noticeably low. As usual, a certain austerity accrues to a fair share of Kesslestatt’s many trocken Rieslings (wines from whose labels the last vestiges of Pradikat designations have now disappeared), but happily, alcoholic heat was scarcely a problem here this year. Interestingly, the Saar wines among these were generally especially successful regardless of style. Annegret Reh’s plan in the Kabinett segment, incidentally, is to eventually eliminate the redundancy of having both feinherb (successors to former halbtrocken) and unabashedly sweet bottlings from a single site, but instead work in the direction of merely discreet – i.e. feinherb – sweetness for most of the estate’s Kabinetts. In a sweet style, the Kesselstatt Kabinetts have consistently represented excellent values with ready market-availability, whereas few of the drier Kabinetts (and virtually none of the estate’s trocken Rieslings) seem to make it to the U.S.Various importers including: P. J. Valckenberg International, Tulsa, OK; tel (918) 622-0424.