2006 Brauneberger Juffer Sonnenuhr Beerenauslese

Mango, pineapple, peach, and honey are the familiar leading themes of the 2006 Brauneberger Juffer-Sonnenuhr Beerenauslese, but here components of fig, marzipan, and vanilla add allure, and caramel is reduced to the merest hint. Whiffs of smoke and faintly bitter toasted nut add further interest to a wine which – even more than the corresponding long gold capsule Auslese – is statuesque and monumental rather than dynamic. If there are layers here it seems for now as though these represent a continually replaceable supply of the same basic – albeit alluring – flavors. But once again, it is early days for a wine whose sheer fruit intensity and seductive textural richness (not to mention this estate’s track record) promise more than a half century’s positive evolution. Oliver and Wilhelm Haag have fielded their third sensational collection in a row, but then, superlatives are hardly new to this address, there are simply more of them this year then ever before. Wilhelm Haag compares 2006 with 1953 – a fabled vintage he remembers helping to harvest as a teenager – for its “desiccated, incredibly healthy botrytis,” adding “I plan to drink these in my second life.” They started picking immediately after October 3, and when I asked Wilhelm Haag whether a particular bottling had been picked early, he laughed and replied “they were all picked early! When I saw the must weights that were coming in, I thought they were too high for Spatlese and even Auslese, and that the wines would be too broad, but I must say, today – even with the botrytis – they have a wonderfully elegant effect.” Importer: Rudi Wiest, Cellars International, Carlsbad, CA; tel. (800) 5960-9463