From ungrafted vines in the Saar’s Schlangengraben (“snake pits”) that the Weis family has permitted growers throughout the Mosel and beyond to tap as a nursery, the 2006 Wiltinger Riesling Kabinett feinherb displays the 11% alcohol and barely-noticeable (though in fact often surprisingly high) residual sugar that Weis thinks not only proves versatile at table, but has succeeded in the most diverse sorts of vintages. Unlike him, I was not charmed by the 2003, but this 2006 shows lovely aromas of apple, white peach, herbs, and flowers; has a generous sense of stuffing, but no heaviness; and boasts bright, frisky acids to enliven its finish. (The crop of Sankt Urbans-Hof’s Saarfeilser vineyard was taken out by vicious hail this year.) “I wouldn’t say we got to the Laurentiuslay too late” after harvesting Kabinett grapes, says Weis, “but it was late.” A mere 2,600 liters of Riesling total were harvested in the two and three-quarter acres of Sankt Urbanshof’s Laurentiuslay, the lowest yields they have ever recorded. The average must weight was also the highest on record. Nik Weis has proven himself a master not only at judging balance in Riesling, but at successfully marketing well-balanced but not legally trocken wine to his countrymen. (Chapeau!) That was a good thing this vintage, he says, because he thinks many of the high must-weight wines he harvested would not have balanced either at significantly higher alcohol or residual sugar. I agree, having found his wines in the lower realms of residual sugar especially successful. The vintage demanded compromises in harvest strategy if not in ultimate quality. “There were wonderful shriveled berries in the Laurentius Lay,” for example, relates Weis, “and had I had another fifteen pickers or another few days, we could have harvested a Trockenbeerenauslese” as happened in 2005, when one of the greatest wines of the vintage resulted. “But I had Kabinett grapes in Piesport at that point that would no longer have been Kabinett if I had waited while the whole crew went picky gepidelt hatten. We had to deal in full parcels this year, not select.” The 2006 wines here were taken from their lees and bottled sooner than in most years.Importer: H. B. Wine Merchants, New York, NY; tel. (917) 402-0456