Stony and alkaline, informed by white currant and lime as well as white peach, this is as bright and minerally a Scharzhofberger Kabinett as I can recall. At the same time in keeping with its having been harvested immediately after significant rainfall there isnt the focused sense of concentration that applies to this years Scharzhofberg Spätlesen or to a more typical Müller Kabinett. There is also a pronounced, slightly atypical sense of levity and delicacy that I find delightful, even though the musts here averaged a relatively high 89 degrees Oechsle. An infusion of salinity activates the salivary glands in a sustained finish. Whether or not this singular Scharzhofberger Kabinett will display the longevity usually associated with that genre, I hesitate to predict, and I suspect few Riesling lovers cellar their Müller Kabinetts more than a decade anyway. -- David Schildknecht