2016 Rudesheimer Berg Kaisersteinfels Terrassen

Ripe peach, Mirabelle and lime; rowan, lily-of-the-valley and thyme deliver a head-turning aromatic performance. The polished, glycerol-rich palate remains loaded with floral perfume and herbal essences while delivering succulent pit fruits for an almost soothing yet infectiously juicy impression. The vibrant finish is sensationally sustained, and along with its kaleidoscopic, undulating interchange of floral perfume, herbal essences and luscious fruit, delivers site-typical salinity that veritably milks the salivary glands. At close to eight grams this is, as usual, the highest in residual sugar among Leitz’s dry single-vineyard bottlings. But it’s safe to predict that his Kaisersteinfels is unlikely ever to return to the legally halbtrocken 10-12 grams of residual sugar that typified most of its bottlings from 2001-2014. “I realize that’s a matter of marketing,” he says, “and I’m a bit sorry it’s that way; but without the Grosses Gewächs imprimatur Kaisersteinfels was always treated as something of a stepchild” – well, among Leitz’s countrymen, anyhow. And I must admit that despite my misgivings about the effects of Leitz somehow getting the 2015 and 2016 installments of Kaisersteinfels to finish legally dry, the wine retains its distinct personality not to mention its superb quality. I doubt that diminished residual sugar will impact this bottling’s impressive track record for age-worthiness, either.

The 2016 Rüdesheim Berg Kaisersteinfels "Grosse Lage" Terrassen comes from small terraces 300 meters above sea level where the ungrafted vines—some up to 80 years old—are rooting in weathered, red quartzite soils rich in iron. The 2016 shows an incredibly pure and flinty bouquet of crushed stones and concentrated yet refined ripe Riesling aromas. This is a pure and tensioned dry Riesling for extremists and "minerality" fetishists. Although there is a certain hidden sweetness that provides intensity and a lush texture, this is a dry and mineral wine from red clay slate with quartzite mixed in. The finish, however, offers up everything I love about Riesling: fascinatingly refined and lush fruit along with purity, elegance, grip and complexity in a bright and weightless way. The finish is highly finessed and salty and reveals a nice tannin grip. This is an expressive but refined and highly elegant Riesling. Tasted two times in October 2017.

Most Riesling lovers will find the fragrance of ripe local fruit with a hint of butterscotch irresistible, and only a doubting Thomas might suspect an overload of opulence. Fortunately, Thomas is proven wrong once again, as this Grosses Gewächs manages a perfect balance between the juicy fruit of gooseberry and melon, stimulating acidity and full, yet muscular, body. Subtle nuances of minerality and herbs lift the Kaisersteinfels into the premier league of grand cru Riesling. (MS)