2007 Westhofener Abtserde Auslese

The auction-destined 2007 Westhofener Abts.er.de Riesling Auslese Gold Capsule brims with pineapple, grapefruit, soursop, and white raisins, laced with honey, caramel, and almond paste. Impressively creamy in texture; seamlessly and single-mindedly ripe, it comes off as something like a hypothetical cross between un-oaked Barsac and a Mosel Beerenauslese. There is in theory more than enough acidity here – both on paper and palpably – but somehow for now I do not sense the dynamic that would take this wine to the next level and I find it calls quite a bit of attention to its own sweetness. It certainly gives every indication though of being a wine that will last for three decades, and obviously it could show many faces not to mention considerable evolution of character over such a long period. Still, I wouldn’t personally wouldn’t year to revisit it for more than a decade. Klaus-Peter Keller has acquired in time for the 2009 vintage a piece of Nierstein’s famous red Rhine shore slopes, but while he is obviously excited by the prospects he is anxious to remind me that “in the 15th Century, the bishops in Worms were not drinking wine from the Red Slope, but rather an aptes erden” – an allusion to the Abtserde vineyard, from which he began rendering dedicated Riesling in 2006 – “and they were certainly very savvy.” Keller considers 2007 “the most successful vintage in Germany for dry wine in a long while,” and when pressed admits he means an unprecedented vintage, since in his opinion he and his colleagues have been on a steep learning curve and were less well-positioned to take full advantage of past vintages that might have been theoretically ideally suited to Riesling trocken. Today, he says, he aims to “achieve slimness and elegance as well as ripeness.” Keller’s relentless pursuit of quality is encompassing longer cask maturation and later release of his best dry wines as well as experimentation in both red and sweet wine methodology. (Note that for all of the Keller 2007s I have tasted, there are also Auslesen from Hubacker and Morstein; a T.B.A. from Hubacker; and several other wines that I did not have chance to experience.) Judging by Keller’s three Pinots – tasted from barrel, and then from bottle – for him, at least, this is a vintage of exceptional potential in red as well. Imported by Sussex Wine Merchants, Moorestown, NJ; tel. (856) 608 9644, Dee Vine Wines, San Francisco, CA tel. (877) 389-9463, and Frances Rose Imports Inc., Huntley, IL; tel. (815) 382 9533