The 2007 Hohen-Sulzer Riesling trocken S boasts lovely northerly orchard fruit and herbal aromas; a creamy texture allied to plenty of juicy refreshment; and a lingering, chalk- and smoke-tinged finish extended by faint pear and apple pit bitterness. There is a lot of nuance here and I suspect the wine should be worth following for at least 5-7 years. Incidentally, Spanier is bravely planning to remove the word trocken from his labels, in part of course because they may sometimes not reach the requisite threshold and he does not want to push or restart fermentations, and in part as a matter of (German!) consumer education. Oliver Spanier farms organically and, increasingly, biodynamically in the southwestern corner of Rheinhessen, which benefits from the cool breezes of the so-called Eisbach Valley, and hence from potentially above-average hang-time. As part of the married Gillot-Spanier team (see elsewhere in this report under Kuhling-Gillot) he is a prime example of the excitement (and increasingly high prices) that young growers in former “hinterlands” are generating. (If one goes back hundreds of years, though, the chalky vineyards of Rheinhessen’s Wonnegau sub-region enjoyed prestige.) I tasted only a portion of this estate’s 2007s and shall render a fuller report on Spanier’s yet-better 2008s.Imported by Domaine Select Wine Estates, New York, NY; tel. (212) 279-0799