2017 Ayler Kupp Auslese Auction 30 18

This bottling (A.P. #30) – which doesn’t bear one of the estate’s conventional “Fuder” numbers – was selected as an auction lot based on Lauer’s assessment that it was “subtler but also deeper” than the Auslese lot that became “Fass 10.” It is lusciously dominated by peach, quince and mango preserves. Glycerol-richness and high residual sugar are allied with tangy brightness of grapefruit for a rather sweet-sour sense of edgy tension that needs time in bottle to settle down. But peach kernel piquancy and black tea smokiness help to push back against the wine’s sweetness. As with the “Fass 10,” we have a finish of impressive persistence as well as the promise of greater things to come for those with a cellar and patience.