A day after picking out a B.A., the crew of the St. Urbans-Hof harvested the 2008 Leiwener Laurentiuslay Riesling Spatlese feinherb. This represents a mere 2,000 liters from a portion of the ungrafted 1951 vines that the estate acquired from von Kesselstatt, because, explains Weis, it was so good he preferred to bottle it solo and declassify the rest of this year’s Laurentiuslay harvest of the same day into his generic estate Riesling. Quince, tangerine zest, lemon, sage, and oregano in the nose usher in a palate that combines less-enhanced creaminess with vivacity, succulence, refreshment, and transparency to saline and stony mineral nuances. Nectarine, quince, and diverse citrus are accented by zesty bitterness and cooling yet pungent herbal notes. This impeccably-balanced, subtly sweet beauty should be well worth following for 15-20 years, though if you can manage to get hold of some do not miss out on its youthful charms, nor neglect to put it through its paces at table. Sankt Urbans-Hof, notes proprietor Nik Weis, experienced a good ten degrees Oechsle difference in 2008 between its ripest Saar fruit – bottled as Spatlese – and that of the Mosel, which reached Auslese level even without stringent selection of botrytis fruit. “We find this a terrific vintage,” remarks Weis – who compares its style with 1998 – “inasmuch as at long last we again have the clear differentiation between Kabinett as it should be, Spatlese, and ennobled Auslese.” Remarkably, there is only a single trocken bottling here this year (from Mehring) which I did not taste and which was destined for the Landhaus Sankt Urban restaurant of Weis’s sister and brother-in-law.Importer: H. B. Wine Merchants, New York, NY; tel. (917)-402-0456

——J.C.(11/1/2010)—— 90

The 2006 Leiwener Laurentiuslay Riesling Spatlese feinherb displays lovely aromas of flowers, herbs, and white peach, with a whiff of smoke; a piquant nuttiness, brown spices, tiny-berried concentration, and hint of honey on the creamy palate; and admirable clarity and generous of pit fruits, candied citrus zest, Traminer-like spice, and mineral in the finish. As usual, the balance here is deft, with 12.5% alcohol and the 20 grams of sugar that remained supportive yet barely noticeable as sweetness. The sheer density, opulence, spicy pungency, and extra measure of honeyed richness conveyed by shriveled berries and tiny yields distinguish this year’s bottling from other dry Laurentiuslay bottlings, but might also make it a bit trickier to pair at table. I would plan to follow it for up to 25 years. Nik Weis has proven himself a master not only at judging balance in Riesling, but at successfully marketing well-balanced but not legally trocken wine to his countrymen. (Chapeau!) That was a good thing this vintage, he says, because he thinks many of the high must-weight wines he harvested would not have balanced either at significantly higher alcohol or residual sugar. I agree, having found his wines in the lower realms of residual sugar especially successful. The vintage demanded compromises in harvest strategy if not in ultimate quality. “There were wonderful shriveled berries in the Laurentius Lay,” for example, relates Weis, “and had I had another fifteen pickers or another few days, we could have harvested a Trockenbeerenauslese” as happened in 2005, when one of the greatest wines of the vintage resulted. “But I had Kabinett grapes in Piesport at that point that would no longer have been Kabinett if I had waited while the whole crew went picky gepidelt hatten. We had to deal in full parcels this year, not select.” The 2006 wines here were taken from their lees and bottled sooner than in most years.Importer: H. B. Wine Merchants, New York, NY; tel. (917) 402-0456