2005 Riesling Oberhäuser Brücke Auslese

After the almost baroque stature of 2003 and the elegant minerality of 2004, Helmut Donnhoff's 2005s can best be described as perfectly balanced. It was one of the shortest harvests he has ever witnessed. "Everything was ripe at the same time," he noted. As so often, it is again the wide range of delicately poised spatlese bottlings that are the charm of the vintage here. Each wine from Donnhoff'svarious sites shines in its own light, and none of them pretends to be more than it is. The style here is never to go overboard:Donnhoff seldom declassifies rich auslese as mere spatlese, as these bottlings might miss out on the delicate balance that makes classic spatlese wines so eminently drinkable. I was also pleased to see in the new catalog that Terry Theise has finally laid aside his sweet mantra and brought in the first of Donnhoff's dry wines this year. They too merit far more than a critical spit at a blind tasting. Of course, Donnhoff also produced a gold capsule auslese, a beerenauslese and three TBAs that are not shown here. They were still fermenting this summer, have only recently been bottled, and are not yet on sale. "I am in no hurry to move these wines," Donnhoff told me. "Perhaps I'll show one or two at the auction next year. However, I'll probably hold back the finest trockenbeerenauslese from the Brucke and Hermannshohle sites for another couple of years. " (Terry Theise Estate Selections; imported by Michael Skurnik Wines, Syosset, NY) Also recommended: 2005 Schlossbockelheimer Felsenberg Riesling Spatlese Trocken (86), 2005 Norheimer Dellchen Riesling Trocken Grosses Gewachs (89), 2005 Oberhauser Leistenberg Riesling Kabinett (87).