2007 Egon Muller - Scharzhofberger Riesling Auslese 7

A heady perfume of lily and peach preserves in the 2007 Scharzhofberger Riesling Auslese A.P. #7 leads to another creamy, delicate, refined 2007 expression of this great site and estate. The floral notes waft all the way through while browned butter and savory salinity compliment an intense concentration of pit fruit essences. Subtle oiliness of texture and the tart chew of fruit skin offer further counterpoint in a finish of formidable penetration and purity that only just misses the mystery and interplay of the auction Spatlese. This too should be worth cellaring 30 if not more years. Egon Muller compares his 2007s with the wines of 1997, which here displayed exceptional purity and advanced, largely noble rot-free ripeness, although the total number of bottlings in 2007 was significantly smaller, and the number of Auslesen alone this year three times greater. (I missed tasting one Spatlese, A.P. #6 that sold out early on, and I have not yet tasted this year’s Trockenbeerenauslese, which hadn’t even finished fermenting on the occasion when I tasted Muller’s other 2007s.) Importer: Frederick Wildman & Sons, New York, NY (212) 355 0700