Weingut Toni Jost Bacharacher Hahn Riesling Trockenbeerenauslese, Mittelrhein, Germany

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At around 8.5%, the Jost 2010 Bacharacher Hahn Riesling Trockenbeerenauslese - picked out from this year’s B.A. - unexpectedly harbors at least 20% more alcohol than the corresponding Spat- or Auslese, but the must (which , as Peter Jost admits, rather incredibly , got de-acidified) was from totally-shriveled berries and simply that stratospherically high in sugar, conditions that super-sticky, dried apricot, and sultana-like palate impressions rather obviously tend to confirm. Prickly pungency and aggressive smokiness put one in mind of a mega-botrytis-Eiswein hybrid, and the overall effect here, as in the corresponding B.A., is raw edged and almost raucous, albeit sweeter and viscous. Cecilia Jost remarks that she searched the family’s cellars in vain for a wine from the VDP’s centennial year, but thinks that perhaps this T.B.A. will give her grandchildren something to open for the bicentennial. There are only 50 liters total, so I don’t know, in view of that remark, how many she intends to actually sell, but while I am sure they will not fatigue for at least a couple of decades, I would not place bets on what they’ll become. One can only hope they will to some greater degree knit and harmonize.Jost’s musts - largely from late October picking - were all double-salt de-acidified, and certain lots, including the Grosse Gewachse from both Mittelrhein and Rheingau, also underwent malo-lactic transformation in the course of unusually long fermentations. “We should culture and sell whatever powerful bacteria managed this,” notes Cecilia Jost jocularly, considering the low-pH medium in which they worked even after double-salt treatment. High acids also prompted some experiments in extended lees exposure and skin contact, though I fancy the latter might in some instances have accentuated a tendency toward bitterness. (Cecelia Jost had acquired some experience with all of these approaches from her time in New Zealand.) Residual sugar was left higher, and alcohol lower than usual in the majority of these 2010s.Bill Mayer Age of Riesling Selections, imported by Valley View Wine Sales, Glen Ellen, CA; tel. (510) 549 2444; also imported by Dee Vine Wines, San Francisco, CA; tel. (877) 389-9463

Down to just 7.5% alcohol and concomitantly high in residual sugar, the Hahn 2007 Bacharacher Hahn Riesling Trockenbeerenauslese perpetuates the themes of caramelized and distilled fruit with oceanic minerality established by its B.A. counterpart. Lemon oil, white raisin, hoisin sauce, and quince and apricot preserves are wreathed in smoke and musk and lapped by salt water. This captures the magic whereby wine of enormous viscosity and palpable density of extract can still seem to levitate on the palate. The persistence of citrus and salt keeps the jam-like, honeyed flavors from becoming even the least bit cloying in a finish of prodigious length, in which the array of mineral nuances that is detectable testifies to a sense of utmost clarity. The perfection of dessication and must weight here approach that of the corresponding 2003, yet the wine’s personality is utterly different, and the Josts hasten to note that not only do they believe 2007 inherently superior for its retention of freshness of primary juiciness, but that their 2003 would have benefitted from their current strict policy of eliminating any prematurely raisined or botrytized grapes no matter how few. Figure this good ... make that great for fifty or more years. The 2007 vintage was immensely satisfying for the Josts, combining as it did high must weights (but less so than in most recent vintages); ripe acid-retention; ample precipitation (for a flagship site so notoriously dry that it is among the very few in Germany to have been approved decades ago for drip lines); perfect botrytis; and a bumper crop (after several straight years of penury). All of that noted, I was still marginally disappointed by this year’s dry wines. I cannot help but wonder whether the Hahn simply promotes too much sugar in its Riesling grapes for ideal balance at legal Trockenheit. Peter Jost continues to follow a distinctive approach to nobly sweet success – honed only over the past several years – of rigorously removing and discarding in September any botrytis that might not later at harvest be distinguishable from fresh botrytis, and of favoring lower residual sugar and correspondingly higher alcohol in the finished wines than is nowadays fashionable.Importer: Terry Theise Estate Selections, imported by Michael Skurnik Wines, Inc., Syosset, NY; tel. (516) 677-9300

Peter Jost says the berries for the 2006 Bacharacher Hahn Riesling Trockenbeerenauslese were virtually as shriveled, smooth, and free of spores as in 2003. There is an acidity that – like a tightly coiled spring – activates and extends the combination of heady florality, pit fruit preserves, caramel, honey, candied citrus rind, white raisin, and tropical fruit essences. And one can even sense a wet stone slate fundament in the wines long, expansive, honeyed, spice-tinged finish. Seamlessness, elegance, and transparency are beautifully exemplified in this noble wine that should probably not be approached for 12-15 years and should cellar well for 30 or more.The normally dry and always steep and well-ventilated Hahn certainly enjoyed advantages in a rain-plagued vintage like 2006.Importer: Terry Theise Estate Selections, imported by Michael Skurnik Wines, Inc., Syosset, NY; tel. (516) 677-9300

Medium to full-bodied, dense, and oily, the 2001 Riesling Trockenbeerenauslese Bacharacher Hahn is a massive, muscle-bound wine. Aromatically, this dense wine displays spiced botrytis and caramel. Oily layers of smoky molasses, cinnamon, apple, peach, and papaya can be found in its hyper-rich personality. Projected maturity: 2015-2035+. Importer: Terry Theise Estate Selections, imported by Michael Skurnik Wines, Inc., Syosset, NY; tel. (516) 677-9300