2015 - Dalsheimer Hubacker Riesling GG, Keller

Citrus-colored, the 2015 Dalsheim Hubacker Riesling Trocken GG has a really ripe, intense, yet elegant and almost tropical-flavored bouquet. It does not lack the precision and chalky lemon flavor of the "Hubi" limestone rock terroir. Powerful, dense and complex on the palate, this has the grip and mineral tension of a great wine. This is probably the most vital and concentrated "Hubi" I have tasted so far. It is enormously salty and tension-filled, but at the same time very fine and as fruit-drive as it is chalk-driven. The finish is tight, long, pure and powerful, and its endless salinity, piquancy and tension make it incredibly stimulating. This is a great dry German Riesling or, as Keller puts it: "This is how Hubacker should taste."

The glorious summer of 2015 led to high expectations among the wine-writing fraternity, and many a Grosses Gewächs showed eager to meet this anticipation with seduction by noticeable residual sugar. The Hubacker reflects the ripeness of the vintage with an attractive fragrance of lanolin, beeswax and floral aromas, but the palate does not bow to the temptation of luscious opulence and sweetness, rather it almost contrarily exhibits notes of crisp green fruit, subtle phenolic astringency and animating acidity. A firm structure will keep this wine in good shape for many years to come. (MS)