The 2016 Nahe Riesling (Dorsheimer) Pitterm?nnchen Sp?tlese is quite reductive on the nose but offers ripe and sensual fruit flavors. On the palate, this is a light yet intense and salty-piquant Riesling with vital acidity, great finesse and lightness. Auctioned in Bad Kreuznach, September 2017.

The 2013 Pitterm?nnchen Riesling Sp?tlese offers a complex, terroir-driven bouquet with earthy/slatey characters intermixed with ripe fruit flavors. The palate is clear, piquant and pure, very salty again and invitingly juicy. This Pitterm?nnchen Sp?tlese is truly an ambassador of the great terroir and has a rather filigreed structure. It is complex but absolutely stimulating and in the end just lovely to drink already today.

The 2012 Dorsheimer Pitterm?nnchen Riesling Sp?tlese has a rich and intense bouquet of ripe and ultra-ripe fruit flavors along with some nutty flavors. It is quite sweet and juicy on the palate which makes it difficult to match with food at this early stage. The piquancy and salinity of the slatey origin is obvious here and the potential is excellent. The wine has finesse and elegance but this will not fade away in the next 20 years. If you can't wait it to drink it, pair with spicy Thai food.

The Diel 2011 Dorsheimer Pittermannchen Riesling Spatlese extends the Traminer-like rose petal, smoky black tea, and pungent caraway of the corresponding Kabinett, adding in luscious musk melon, pineapple and pink grapefruit. The expansiveness, enveloping fruit intensity, textural creaminess and sheer sweetness here all mitigate a bit against cut, invigoration, or an interactive sense of complexity; but there is still enough primary juiciness to engender some refreshment, and more than enough appeal to reel you back for the next sip. This should stay fresh for 15-20 years during which – assuming its sense of sweetness backs off as one would anticipate – it may well reveal more nuance. Caroline Diel is now the mother of two, but shows every intention and indication of personally staying on top of her estate’s viticulture. In collaboration with long-time cellarmaster Christoph Friedrich, she is both perpetuating and further refining the styles of wine that have come to characterize and enhance the long-standing reputation of Schlossgut Diel. Picking began in the last week of September and most of the top Rieslings were harvested already in the first week of October, by which point there was a significant amount of botrytis, happily largely noble, most of it picked-out in parallel with the fruit for the Grosse Gewachse. Wisely, I think – as heaven knows they have an austere side as is – the Diels elected for the sake of moderating alcohol to leave a bit more residual sugar behind this year than usual in their Grosse Gewachse. Importer: Terry Theise Estate Selections, imported by Michael Skurnik Wines, Inc., Syosset, NY; tel. (516) 677-9300

The Diel 2010 Dorsheimer Pittermannchen Riesling Spatlese focuses on peach, yellow cherry, and white grapefruit, here wreathed in heliotrope and decadent lily that run from a seductively assertive bouquet through a buoyant, subtly creamy yet refreshing palate and into a dynamic finish transparent not only to persistent floral nuances but to an undertone of wet stone that it’s impossible not to associate, however fancifully, with this site’s slate. The focus and penetration exhibited here mount as the wine takes on air. Expect this to excel for at least the next 15 years. (A bit of the currently wonderful 2001 was recently re-released to the States.) While her famous father Armin naturally continues as a trusted advisor, it is evident in conversation as well from continued adjustments in methodology that Caroline Diel is settling into her role as hands-on manager of this great estate, clearly positioning it as one of those lucky enough to receive the special benefits and blessings that can accrue to felicitous multi-generational collaboration. Selective double-salt de-acidification was performed here in 2010 – occasionally even in lots destined for residually sweet wines – and skin contact encouraged. Alcohol levels for this year’s Grosse Gewachse are in the moderate, 12.5-13% range. Importer: Terry Theise Estate Selections, imported by Michael Skurnik Wines, Inc., Syosset, NY; tel. (516) 677-9300