Niederhauser Hermannshohle Auslese GK 2006 DEMI

Donnhoff’s 2006 Niederhauser Hermannshohle Riesling Auslese introduces a caramelization of fruit and a roasted richness that represent a more obvious expression of botrytis, yet the springs of acidity are incredibly tightly-wound as well and there is absolutely no sense of heaviness. One can taste the effect of botrytis that was being constantly ventilated in the best portions of this great site, concentrating all components, including acidity, while juicy berries also still abounded. The fruitcake metaphor is overused and fails to capture the appropriate sense of levity, fluidity, and elegance. Suffice it to say that dried fruits, toasted nuts, citrus rind, honey, white raisin, baking spices, spiritous fruit essences, and singed, caramelized notes all abound, and that the less prosaic layers of this masterpiece – for lack of better words, the meat and mineral dimensions – are only revealed for now to the limited degree that time in the glass permits. The finish finds me licking my lips clean of mysteriously savory, salty residues. Voluminous and dense yet refined and elegant; baroque yet constructed like one of the great pyramids; viscously rich yet dynamic, this will stand – perhaps for half a century – as a monument to its vintner, site and vintage.

 - By David Schildknecht on 30th of October 2008, Wine Advocate