2002 Riesling trocken

Given the elegance, brightness and clarity that characterize most of the best wines of 2002, I imagined that Helmut Donnhoff's wines would embody these characteristics in spades - and I was not disappointed. "The true quality of a vintage," he opined, "can be read from the Spatlesen. For me, the Pradikat Spatlese is the classic German riesling. It's the essence of Spatlese that the inherent complexity of the vineyard is in there. 2002 is a great Spatlese vintage, and that is where I put my energy, to see if I could outsmart the vineyard and capture its soul in the picking. "Seldom will you taste a range of riesling Spatlesen so distinctively and eloquently evocative of their sites and so complex and perfectly proportioned as those Donnhoff has rendered this year. "Perhaps, 2001 is just a bit coarser, a bit more difficult," he continued, "whereas 2002 is just unbelievably charming. "I could not find a better word to describe the entire vintage. (Terry Theise) Also recommended: 2002 Riesling.