The Schonborn 2009 Hattenheimer Pfaffenberg Riesling Spatlese Pfaffenberger – that last (nick-) name prominent on the antique label – registers 10.4% alcohol even with 84 grams of residual sugar left behind. But its sweetness manages to support its flavors of ripe pear, pink grapefruit, Persian melon, honey, and marzipan. Fruit pit piquancy, citrus rind, chew of fruit skin, as well as subtle salinity all lend stimulation to an impressively persistent finish, and here is another instance where high residual CO2 helps engender lift and balance the sweetness. This should keep well for at least two decades. There was merely a light blush of botrytis on this fruit, indicates director Peter Barth. The latest collection from Peter Barth and his team further demonstrates the high standards that now prevail at this venerable estate. “The window for optimal harvest seems to keep narrowing,” Barth notes, and the relatively high finished alcohol levels on this years dry Schonborn Rieslings certainly testifies to that fact, leaving the 2008s at this address with a distinct edge over their 2009 counterparts. Despite the ravages of hail in Hattenheim and Erbach – including the loss of nearly one-third of the estates anticipated crop of Marcobrunn – the number of different bottlings from that site and from the monopole Pfaffenberg is still considerable. Various importers, including Dee Vine Wines San Francisco, CA; tel. (877) 389- 9463, Slocum & Sons, North Haven, CT; tel. 203-239-8000, Frederick Wildman & Sons, New York, NY; tel. (212) 355-0700, Winesellers Ltd. Niles, IL; tel. (847) 647-1100