2015 Ayler Kupp Spatlese Fass 23 Auktion 23 16

This 520-bottle auction offering – as Lauer put it, a “feinste Spätlese” – was picked from the “fillet” of the Kupp during the third week of October, ahead of the Grosses Gewächs from that same sector. At 95 Oechsle the grapes still harbored an incredible 14 grams of acidity. The upshot was acidity in the finished wine of 11.9 grams, which goes a long way toward explaining how 93 grams of residual sugar could generate a merely measured sense of sweetness. This is like a lime and apple sorbet laced with piquant cherry pit as well as rich, smoky pistachio and almond extracts. The palate feel is buoyant but firm and palpably extract- as well as glycerol- rich. Blazingly, piercingly penetrating, the finish practically scours your mouth, leaving the tongue tingling and the salivary glands pumping. It will be fascinating to witness when and with what consequences this ball of energy and brightness begins to calm. I’ve been conservative in my prognosis, but I would not be shocked if this bottling ended up outlasting the corresponding “Fass 7.”