2015 - Piesporter Goldtropfchen Riesling Auslese, Reinhold Haart

Made from highly ripe grapes but no botrytis, the 2015 Piesporter Goldtröpfchen Riesling Auslese is very clear, fine and precise on the nose, with brilliant yet concentrated grapefruit and nectarine aromas. On the palate, this is highly precise, beautifully concentrated, finessed and elegant Auslese. It has lush fruit (peaches, nectarines), piquant acidity and lingering salinity. This is a picture-book Auslese of great finesse and terroir expression, probably one of the finest you can get and would want to drink from the 2015 vintage.

Overripe pear and muskmelon along with site-typical pink grapefruit on the nose reemerge with almost syrupy sweetness and intensity on the glycerol-rich midpalate. A musky aura of peony-like perfume adds to this Riesling’s overall sense of decadence. But as in the corresponding Spätlese, enough grapefruit juiciness emerges on the lusciously lingering finish to leaven and refresh the palate, while piquant hints of pear and melon seeds serve for welcome counterpoint, and inner-mouth florality remains downright heady to the end.