2014 Franz Kunstler Hochheimer Kirchenstuck Riesling Kabinett Trocken

Like its distinguished line of predecessors, this bottling eloquently testifies to the virtues of a Riesling category for whose retention within the VDP Gunter Künstler is among several prominent Rheingau vintners to have fought, alas unsuccessfully. But whatever he ends up calling it, I certainly expect Künstler to keep rendering a conspicuously low-alcohol dry Riesling from the Kirchenstück. This one signals in the nose not only the pit-tinged peach, zesty fresh lime, pungent green herbs and raw almond that dominate on a polished, buoyant palate, but also sea breeze and quarry dust that subsequently translate into mouthwatering salinity and an invigorating impingement of chalky mineral matter. Transparent to nuance and consummately refreshing, this demonstrates (as if it should be news to any but the VDP’s makers and shakers) that profundity and site typicity are entirely compatible with alcoholic levity and infectious, unabashedly sensual juiciness. I have had excellent recent experiences with early-mid 1990s renditions of this wine, so consider the window of drinkability that I offer below conservative.