1997 Riesling Kabinett

It seems almost as though one can write the headline for each new vintage here before the grapes are picked: "Weil breaks new records, harvesting an exceptional collection including some of the richest, ripest Rheingau rieslings ever." At least, if you wrote that in advance of 1997, you'd once again be right. The fruit ripened ahead of 1996 pace, but given the healthy grapes and high tartaric acidity, Weil let it hang until the end of October before commencing to pick. "This exceptionally long, steady ripening period of utterly healthy berries was decisive for the quality of the vintage" he notes. "At the beginning of December, we were still harvesting healthy fruit for Spatlese." There is a lot more puppy fat on the '97s, and they are even thicker and plusher than their predecessors. "More baroque," Weil calls them, and that's an apt metaphor because beneath the surface there is layered, even intricate complexity sufficient to convert any disbelievers. (Rudi Wiest)