Dönnhoff Niederhauser Hermannshohle Spatlese 2006

The herbal concentration, tropical fruit ripeness, and oceanic salinity of the 2006 Niederhauser Hermannshohle Riesling Spatlese leap from the glass. On the palate, this is even more obviously ripe, rich, and honeyed than its Spatlese siblings, with peach, quince, soursop, mango, and nut paste leading into a concentrated and for Hermannshohle unusually ebullient finish. But there is savory mineral and nut oil depth as well as incipient caramelization. As this evolves – and one could happily follow it for two or three decades – more of that minerality and the darker side of the site that are already evident in the dry rendition and only hinted at become evident, and within an hour this was a seething cauldron of complexity. (DS, 10/2008)