Klaus Peter Keller Riesling Auslese Abts E 2015 (2 Fl.)

Galloni: Picked out ahead of the corresponding Grosses Gewächs from the highest, thinnest-soiled, chalkiest portion of Keller’s Abtserde holdings, this reflects a selection of largely healthy though in part desiccated berries, because according to Keller, “almost no botrytis had accumulated.” A penetratingly prickly nose mingles lime and pink grapefruit zests with ripe kiwi and mirabelle. A faint aura of white raisin emerges with airing. The palate impression is glossy, glycerol-rich, even a bit creamy, yet zapped by vividly bright fresh citrus and luscious but piquantly seedy kiwi, leading to a buoyant, vibrantly and brightly sustained finish to which crystallized ginger and candied lime peel add invigoration, while mineral salts milk the salivary glands. “If you’re too selective,” opined Keller – that is, if you harvest only under the aspect of botrytis or desiccation – “then for me it gets a bit boring. The farther I get from my student days, the more I divert from the then-prevailing model of ‘perfect Auslese.’ You need to take some of everything: some green-gold berries, some overripe ones, some shriveled, and a bit of botrytis. And in 2015,” he added, “you even had lots of greenish but shriveled berries, but very little botrytis.” 95/100