2006 Schlossbockelheimer Felsenberg Auslese

Harvested late (-and we left half of the botrytized grapes behind,- says Frohlich, - - Dad's heart was bleeding-) the 2006 Schlossbockelheimer Felsenberg Riesling Aulese is distinctively and gorgeously scented with blood orange, black currant, brown ginger, and lime zest. Elegant, and positively delicate, this shows an unusually penetrating citricity for this - or any other - vintage, and at 11 grams acidity, no wonder! In fact, you practically want to don sunglasses to drink this - and the sweetness and acid will need to resolve. But the sheer electric intensity and length of citrus and spice are awesome. I would suggest drinking at between 15-30 years of bottle age, though I hasten to note that no long term track record exists yet at this address for the style or sheer intensity of wines that they have been bottling in recent years. Tim Frohlich says 2006 was the real test of the thought and work he and his family have put into their vineyards over the past several years. He passed that test with flying colors: very few German estates could claim such consistently high quality across such a wide stylistic range. The harvest did not finish until the last week in October, yet yields were not far from normal. When I realized in the course of my visit the number of nobly sweet 2006s awaiting me, I spontaneously rearranged my schedule to squeeze in a second session. The words -worth a detour- scarcely do justice to that experience. Frohlich compares his top nobly sweet Rieslings this year with his selections -under ideal conditions in 2002 and 2005, but the 2006s have more kick of acidity.- My guess is that when he's retired, he'll still view these wines as a benchmark. Imported by Rudi Wiest, Cellars International, Carlsbad, CA; tel. (800) 596-9463