Schaefer’s 2006 Graacher Domprobst Riesling Beerenauslese returns us to the toasted nuttiness that so often characterizes this site. Baked, caramelized apple, grilled pineapple, dried apricot, and nut brittle inform a palate that is at the same time so remarkably delicate and so sizzlingly marked by botrytis that it suggests a citrus parfait laced with white pepper and horseradish. I imagine a sort of scouring of the palate taking place by the action of citrus, botrytis, and fine slate particles. And talk about “penetrating”: this wine makes my nostrils flair and my eyes fly open. “Had we gone for Trockenbeerenauslese – and you could basically tell what it would have been like by tasting the first fraction of the press –” explains Willi Schaefer, “it would have become more concentrated, but not more interesting, because probably the acidity would have been covered over by its fullness and sweetness, and it would have become heavier, which would not have pleased me.” The balance of this Beerenauslese indeed seems close to perfect, but this intensely active wine is positively restless on the palate, and possibly many years away from more harmonious interplay. I wrote of vintage 2005 as representing a return to the incomparable level of quality that long prevailed at this address, and fans of Willi Schaefer and is son Christoph will be delighted to learn that their two subsequent vintages are as fine as any that have come from this cellar, and that they’ve increased acreage at least a bit in an effort to assuage the demand that now rages at home as well as abroad. That said, the harvest of 2006 was a perfect example of why Willi Schaefer has so long resisted acquiring more vines. “It was a race,” Christoph says, “in order to preserve our style of wine” and an intimate knowledge of each parcel and ability to make quick decisions were essential. “In the first week of October,” notes Willi Schaefer, “we still had half-way normal yields, but after that the crop shriveled. And the beautiful truth is that the acids concentrated, too.” By corralling friends and relatives from the village, Schaefers were able to muster 25 pickers the second week, their largest team ever. It certainly paid off! Importer: Terry Theise Estate Selections, imported by Michael Skurnik Wines, Inc., Syosset, NY; tel. (516) 677-9300