2010 Winninger Uhlen BA

An impression of liqueur of honeydew melon laced with anise in the nose of the Knebels- 2010 Winninger Uhlen Riesling Beerenauslese is joined on a viscous and buoyant palate by lemon meringue for an overall impression somewhat syrupy (as nobly sweet wines from this address can occasionally be). But there is a fine sense of purity to the botrytis honey here and impressive sheer persistence. As with so many 2010s - though here, exceptionally, I don't issue the following caveat on account of obstreperous acids or bifurcation! - this simply needs a lot of time to shape itself, though that it will last for decades seems assured. (An Uhlen T.B.A. tasted alongside, while it displayed striking levity and persistence, was too aromatically struck-down by its sulfur to adequately assess.) The Knebels commenced their 2010 harvest in mid-October but picked through the first week of November. They report having not adjusted acidity, but instead they let most of their non-sweet wines proceed through malo-lactic transformation - which in many instances lasted through summer - often with profound effect. Must weights were universally high, a phenomenon accentuated by the prevalence of botrytis. Aside from some of the nobly sweet entries, none of this year's single-vineyard offerings were bottled until the third week in August (before which they remained on their full lees), so it should be born in mind that I tasted most of them less than three weeks later. The line-up here this year is abbreviated not only on account of sheer paucity of juice but also of the Knebels' intention to in general begin offering slightly fewer and more simply-labeled wines. At the time of my September visit, two Trockenbeerenauslesen in their glass demijohns were still fermenting with painful slowness in the corner of the Knebel's tasting parlor: a 2010 Rottgen, and the more concentrated of two Rottgen T.B.A.s left from 2009. A 2010 Uhlen T.B.A. from bottle was impressively buoyant and persistent, but too aromatically struck-down by its sulfur to properly assess. Importer:Mosel Wine Merchant (various importers); tel. (413) 429-6176; dm@moselwinemerchant.com , also Dee Vine Wines, San Francisco, CA tel. (877) 389- 9463