2016 Riesling feinherb Molaris L

The 2016 harvest only began here in mid-October and continued well into November. While some growers in the Greater Mosel picked grapes in 2016 with acid levels that are arguably slightly lower than optimal, Peter Geiben reported acidity very close to what he experienced in 2015, and in fact he felt compelled to deacidify certain musts that were destined for dry wines (of which there were fewer individual bottlings than in 2015), while others, in the process of unusually slow fermentations, kicked into malolactic transformation. These factors may contribute to the softness and diffusion that characterized certain wines. But Geiben insisted that the fruit was overwhelmingly healthy. Happily, there are welcome reminders in the present collection of the clarity and charm that have always characterized the best Karlsmühle wines. But the quality is by no means up to that of 2015, and on the whole it must be said that this is an estate whose qualitative edge and consistency during the late 1980s through mid-1990s have not been regained since.