2008 Maximin Grunhauser Abtsberg Spatlese

A fascinating and enticing nose of sweet clover, honeysuckle, mint, oregano, and ripe honeydew melon in the 2008 Maximin Grunhauser Abtsberg Riesling Spatlese A.P. #16 leads to a buoyant, refreshing palate with the openness and clarity that make for maximum finesse and sense of interplay among fruit, herbal, floral, and subtly stony elements. Piquancy of peach kernel and toasted walnut help balance out the sense of honeyed sweetness in the long, luscious finish. This promises to be worth following for two decades, if not longer. Carl von Schubert’s and his cellar master and vineyard manager Stefan Kraml seem to be hitting their collaborative stride now, and I would say that the disappointing period that began in the waning days of Alphonse Heinrich’s long and otherwise justly celebrated tenure can be consigned to history. This year’s collection – for which they began picking in mid October but continued for more than a month – could no doubt be more exciting, but frankly, it’s just good to witness this estate making it methodically onto first base one wine after another at the low and middle end of their batting order and scoring a few major hits in their upper price echelon. The new norm here is spontaneous fermentation and that has resulted in some wines a bit aromatically shrouded or nose-wrinkling that should ultimately prove better than by present scores suggest. By the way, the von Schuberts are lucky both to own the forest above their vineyards – including therefore the private hunting rights – and to have easily found a market for wild boar sausage and pate (for whose high quality I can vouch, if without venturing a point score) because in 2009 they personally dispatched more than 100 of these hefty, tusked ravagers of Riesling grapes. Importer: P. J. Valckenberg International, Tulsa, OK; tel. (918) 622-0424