Diel 2010 年份的 Riesling trocken Nahestein 由 Burg Layen、Dorsheim 及附近的 Rummelsheim 所產(chǎn)的葡萄釀制而成。由于該年份葡萄產(chǎn)量低，又在木桶中熟成，并結(jié)合了檸檬和青蘋果酸，伴有石頭的味道，使酒簡(jiǎn)樸的風(fēng)格更加突出，但酒中果汁味充盈，味道持久，極具活力，令人滿意。我計(jì)劃 3 年內(nèi)享用該酒，以體驗(yàn)酒的進(jìn)取與創(chuàng)新之妙。

Tart lemon and peach inform the Diel 2009 Riesling trocken Nahestein – for more on whose origins see my review of the 2008 in issue 187 – which incorporates a bit of astringency by way of flavors of fruit skin and pits, and a stony suggestion that promotes some sense of austerity. The Diels’ aim with this cuvee is to offer a wine of stuffing (here close to 13% in alcohol) yet refreshment and in that aim they have been at least moderately successful on this occasion. I’d plan to drink this over the next couple of years. Caroline Diel’s 2009 collection is noteworthy not only for a range of outstanding Riesling such as has long been anticipated (though seldom bettered) at this estate, but also for a set of wines from the Pinot family – all, incidentally, now labeled with French rather than German names for their varieties – that in my estimation mark a significant up-tick in quality. That this estate has been famous in Germany for its work with Pinots ever since Armin Diel assumed charge in 1987 and began barrique vinification, I am of course well aware. But only in recent years have I witnessed tendencies to restrain the influence of new wood and to encourage real subtlety, which seem to me prerequisites for achieving with these varieties anything remotely approaching the class of Schlossgut Diel’s Rieslings. The 2009 Pinots were harvested in mid-October and most of the Rieslings in the two weeks following. The superb botrytis selections were all picked-out ahead of even the Pinots.Importer: Terry Theise Estate Selections, imported by Michael Skurnik Wines, Inc., Syosset, NY; tel. (516) 677-9300

Representing a new name for the generic Riesling chez Diel, their 2008 Riesling Nahestein originates from various lesser sites around Burg Layen while also serving as a cuvee into which to declassify any portions of fruit from Dorsheim (even the crus) that are not considered worthy of inclusion in the estate’s village-designated cuvee. Here we have gooseberry, green tomato, lime, lavender, and peppermint in an aromatically pungent and palate-invigorating performance that incorporates more than enough sense of things mineral to live up to its name. There is considerable stuffing (at 13% alcohol) though not the lift or elegance of which the vintage is so dramatically capable. Like many marginally ripe, adamantly mineral, and trocken 2008s, it manages to avoid austerity by dint of glycerin and the sheer flow of juicy finishing refreshment. Enjoy it over the next couple of years. Caroline Diel is taking the reins at her family’s estate, and results in 2008 are as impressive as one would have expected given the track record at this address. The team here did not start harvesting until the third week in October and picked for nearly a month, due to which lateness the measurable acid levels (which were not adjusted) were relatively low by vintage standards, but the impression of acidity was more than vivacious and efficacious enough. On a quest for purity and authenticity, the Diels did not include in their bench trials for the blending of Grosse Gewachse any small lots of off-dry wine such as might in past have been employed expressly to fine-tune the finished levels of residual sugar. Instead, they let the blends all remain quite dry. Armin Diel has for at least the past dozen years championed and cherished the Mosel stylistic ideals of delicacy and of high residual sugar balanced against acidity. His choices of Mosel-born cellar master Martin Franzen (now of Muller-Catoir), and more recently of Moselaner Christoph Friedrich, testify to this proclivity. But there has never been a better vintage in which to give these ideals fluid realization. So if you are a lover of Kabinetts and Spatlesen from the likes of Joh. Jos. Prum, Willi Schaefer, or the Haags, do not miss the show Caroline and Armin Diel have put on this year, and that could be playing in your cellar any night over the next two decades!Terry Theise Estate Selections, imported by Michael Skurnik Wines, Inc., Syosset, NY; tel. (516) 677-9300