Saarburger Rausch, Riesling, Auslese, Goldkap, 2010

The Zillikens sent pickers into the vineyard with two baskets, one of which was filled painstakingly with selected single shrivelled grapes - the basis of this cuvee. Hanno told us proudly that this is a level of Goldkapsel the likes of which they have never seen before, harvested with a must weight of close to 140 Oeschle, so in the realms of Trockenbeerenauslese, though of course with far less botrytis. It is evidently viscous in the glass but also very clear and pale. On the nose there is an intensity, with a wave of compact dried fruit notes, sultana and mandarin, while the palate reveals huge amounts of concentrated pure fruit, dried peach, honeyed drops, the mouth coating, silken sweet fruit notes lingering long on the palate. What a joy to taste, so precise and lifted despite all that intensity and power. An absolute humdinger.