A 2008 Leiwener Laurentiuslay Riesling Beerenauslese represents Sank Urbans-Hof’s second consecutive mini-venture in painstaking picking – in part berry-by-berry – on the part of the estate’s entire crew and in a single day prior to the main harvest of this site. But the personality here is quite different from that of its 2007 counterpart, and indeed not especially 2008-typical either. White raisin, brown sugar, brown spices peach preserves, and orange marmalade are the principle themes of this confitured, gaudy, rich Riesling. Yet, it never becomes heavy or overbearing, and bittersweet zest – along with a modicum of refreshing citrus and the sheer pungency of botrytis – offers welcome push-back to the candied aspects in an undeniably long finish. I would anticipate 40 or more years’ freshness here, and only those with a real sweet tooth are advised to imbibe over the next 20!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