2010 Scharzhofberger Feine Auslese

Muller’s 2010 Scharzhofberger Riesling Auslese offers a similarly striking contrast with its counterpart from the Braune Kupp to that displayed between the corresponding Spatlesen, since in the present wine we have an elixir of remarkable levity, refinement, and polished textural allure. What’s more, the flavors now shift toward honey, white raisin, salted caramel, and quince preserves, unabashedly exhibiting these grapes’ noble botrytization. And even despite what I am sure are enormously high acids, these act only as hidden, energizing springs until the finish kicks in with overt citricity that help leaven and balance the wines liqueur-like texture and sweetness. I think we can safely presume a quarter-century’s strong performance here. This wine was in effect a byproduct, says Muller, having been culled from the corresponding gold capsule Auslesen rather than the other way around. Egon Muller scored a collection of striking successes in 2010, albeit at the price of tiny yields, comparable, he notes, to those of hail- and botrytis-ravaged 2006. This paucity of juice, combined with high ripeness, is reflected in the, for this estate, very surprising presence of only one Scharzhofberger each of Pradikat Kabinett and Spatlese, consisting of an amalgamation of several tiny lots. Nor need collectors fret about the identity of A.P. #s ... save when it comes to Trockenbeerenauslese, since a second one of those was fermenting at the time of my visit. (The 2009 vintage T.B.A. reviewed in Issue 192 now carries this year’s A.P. #11 and achieved at auction last September a record price of 5300 Euros for 750 ml.) Picking began October 14, “already with beautiful botrytis,” Muller notes, and was finished before the end of the month to respect the crew’s All Saint’s holiday weekend and because – although he indicates that there was negligible rain here at the beginning of November – Muller perceived scant likely benefit to postponing passes on an already extremely light-bearing vineyard. “We picked out what little botrytis-free fruit there was intermittently through the course of the harvest,” he adds, “and de-acidified musts selectively as seemed warranted, independent of the quality (i.e. Pradikat) level in question.” Importer: Frederick Wildman & Sons, New York, NY; tel. (212) 355-0700