Saarburg Rausch Auslese, Weingut Forstmeister Geltz-Zilliken 2010

“Now we come to a wine representative of the world that is this vintage,” says a grinning Hanno Zilliken by way of introducing his 2010 Saarburger Rausch Riesling Auslese A.P. #6 and he means that not just in terms of style but in the statistical sense that it’s to wine of this sort that most of the fruit picked in this vintage was channeled. Crystallized ginger, cinnamon candy, candied lime rind, and white truffle strikingly accent the honeydew and Persian melon that generously scent and lusciously saturate the satin-textured, subtly-oily palate of this expansive, opulent botrytized, and prodigiously-lingering elixir. Deep, rich nut oils but at the same time a tingling, invigorating lemon and orange citricity enhance the finish, even if this Auslese lacks quite the lift, transparency, or nuanced differentiation discernable in the A.P. #8 Spatlese. And given 12.7 grams of acidity as well as seemingly palpably extreme dry extract, I am willing to concede not only that this could be hiding as much as it’s showing, but that it might need years to really show what it’s got. I don’t doubt it will remain active for four decades.