Kiedricher Grafenburg Spatlese, Weingut Robert Weil 2007

A striking sense of chalk and salt accompanies white peach and plum in the nose of Weil's 2007 Kiedricher Grafenberg Spatlese, which saturates the palate with a superb, subtly oily concentration of pit fruits, citrus, and honey. Savory mineral character suggesting shrimp or lobster shell reduction persists all the way through a long finish, with the overall effect being surprisingly similar to that of the 2006 version, but with a degree of mineral-like expression rare for residually sweet Spatlese. But then, sheer density of underlying material, I suspect, explains the degree to which this - more than the corresponding Turmberg - manages to practically cancel out its residual sugar in the finish. This will doubtless be worth following for 15 or more years.