2014 - Scharzhofberger Riesling Kabinett, Egon Muller

Stony and alkaline, informed by white currant and lime as well as white peach, this is as bright and minerally a Scharzhofberger Kabinett as I can recall. At the same time – in keeping with its having been harvested immediately after significant rainfall – there isn’t the focused sense of concentration that applies to this year’s Scharzhofberg Spätlesen or to a more typical Müller Kabinett. There is also a pronounced, slightly atypical sense of levity and delicacy that I find delightful, even though the musts here averaged a relatively high 89 degrees Oechsle. An infusion of salinity activates the salivary glands in a sustained finish. Whether or not this singular Scharzhofberger Kabinett will display the longevity usually associated with that genre, I hesitate to predict, and I suspect few Riesling lovers cellar their Müller Kabinetts more than a decade anyway.