2002 Keller Dalsheimer Hubacker Riesling Auslese***

The sweetened herbal tea-scented 2002 Riesling Auslese Dalsheimer Hubacker A.P. #4203 has admirable depth, concentration and focus as well as a wonderfully rich, thick character packed with passion fruit and apricot flavors. Powerful, exquisitely ripe, yet prodigiously balanced, this wine also boasts superb definition. Projected maturity: 2015-2030. In Germany, considerable criticism has been aimed at The Wine Advocate, other US wine publications, as well as American consumers and importers that Germany’s dry (trocken) wines do not receive the respect, attention, and reviews that they deserve. In short, if one listens to the commentary, it would appear that we are wearing blinders, believing that the entire wine world is capable of producing great dry wines except Germany, relegating Deutschland to the crafting of off-dry and sweet wines. In my estimation, this misses three key points: 1) Germany’s finest terroirs are typically dedicated to the production of wines with some residual sugar; 2) there is a magical sweet/tart juxtaposition married with purity that exists in this nation’s finest off-dry and sweet Rieslings that no other region on Earth has been able to reproduce; and 3) the overwhelming majority of trockens are lean, mean, dusty, and tart. Chapin Cellars, imported by Billington Imports, Springfield, VA; tel. (703) 455-4700