2007 Riesling Lieserer Niederberg Helden Beerenauslese

Thomas Haag has now harvested 15 vintages at this estate and, as I wrote last year, essentially put the village of Lieser singlehandedly back on the map. With choice morsels in the Juffer-Sonnenuhr site in Brauneberg that he inherited, he now has a doubly rich stock of vineyards from which to work and has for years made the best of both. Although I am still no great fan of his dry wines, once a bit of residual sugar comes into play there are few estates that do it better. As at the estates of so many of his colleagues in 2007, the kabinett and spatlese bottlings were at the core of this year's offering. On the other hand, the noble late-harvest wines were a touch irregular and often only marginally better. When they were right, though, they were spot on. (Rudi Wiest/Cellars International, Carlsbad, CA) Also recommended: 2007 Brauneberger Juffer Riesling Spatlese Trocken (87), 2007 Riesling Kabinett (86), 2007 Brauneberger Juffer-Sonnenuhr Riesling Spatlese Auction Wine (90), 2007 Brauneberger Juffer-Sonnenuhr Riesling Auslese Gold Capsule (91), 2007 Lieser Niederberg Helden Riesling Auslese (91), 2007 Lieser Niederberg Helden Riesling Auslese Long Gold Capsule (93). Other wines tasted: 2007 Riesling Trocken, 2007 Lieser Niederberger Helden Riesling Spatlese Trocken, 2007 Riesling Feinherb.