The 2005 Leiwener Laurentiuslay Riesling Spatlese – an auction lot – combines terrific ripeness and abundant flavors with delicacy and refinement. Smelling like licorice-studded orange-vanilla ice cream, it comes onto the palate with a correspondingly creamy yet clear and juicy fruit presence. Orange, vanilla, and licorice continue into the long and luscious finish, together with brown spices, lime peel, honey, white pepper, and wet stone. Like the other St. Urbanshof 2005 Spatlesen, this will certainly be a good candidate for at least two decades of cellaring. The team here – cellarmaster Rudi Hoffmann, vineyard manager Hermann Jostock, and proprietor Nik Weis – continued their streak of highly successful harvests this year, albeit at the price of extremely low yields.Importer: H. B. Wine Merchants, New York, NY; tel. (917) 402-0456