2006 Dönnhoff Norheimer Dellchen Riesling Auslese Nahe (375ml)

The 2006 Norheimer Dellchen Riesling Auslese seems to be following a mission for this site to display in the most elegant, delicate, and seemingly effortless way the concentrated ripeness of the vintage, in the process proving Donnhoff’s hypothesis that – like the Hermannshohle – Dellchen “has talent at all levels of residual sugar.” This Auslese puts away the botrytis as the dry Spatlese dispatched its alcohol and the sweet Spatlese its residual sugar. A cherry-nectarine liqueur redolent of distilled essences and laced with lemon generates an inner-mouth explosion of floral perfume. Deep honey and chocolate richness well-up but do not pull this masterpiece down from its orbital state. I would not pull a cork for 15 years nor be in any hurry (were I a young man) to drink it up in less than 40 years. (DS)