van Volxem Riesling Altenberg Auslese (fruchtsüß) 2009 0,375l

Parker: Even if – as I maintain, and Niewodniczanski has often admitted – rendering residually sweet wine is not his forte, when nature plays the botrytis card, that is the obvious move to make, as witness his 2009 Kanzemer Altenberg Riesling Auslese. Peach preserves and glazed pineapple are coated with brown spices, pear drops, honey, nougat, and caramel for an impression of confectionary, almost gaudy sweetness that to me – at least now, and for the foreseeable future – precludes much nuance. There is admirable delicacy here, but no tension and only a slight sense of salinity helps engender some salivation, and in my case at least, no especially eager anticipation of the next sip. A suggestion of liquid gardenia and lily emerged as this took on air, forcing me to recognize a more multi-dimensional wine than I had initially perceived, yet also reinforcing my contention that every aspect of this Riesling spells "sweet" with a capital "S." I must say it is impossible not to get caught up in the show that is this long, soothingly-finishing Altenberg Auslese. It might well keep for decades in the manner of other top-notch Saar Auslesen, but I won't attempt to prognosticate. I will however speculate that it is likely to take the better part of two decades before this wines' sense of superficial sweetness would back-off to any very noticeable degree. 91/100 (2010)