2018 Riesling Kabinett S

Harvest here began on September 15, and five days later the first Rieslings were arriving at the presses, both dates setting estate records. “A decisive factor this vintage was localized distribution of rain,” averred Max von Kunow, “and we received just enough precipitation in summer to keep the vines from shutting down.” His determination to pick at least some Kabinetts at relatively low must weights served him well despite the overall tendency of vintage 2018 toward elevated grape sugar; in fact, I was amazed to find the Kabinetts collectively the most successful part of von Kunow’s vintage 2018 lineup. And although I was initially shocked at their high levels of residual sugar – this from a grower whom I know to have expressed concern lest the genre be swamped by sweetness – the majority of von Hövel 2018 Kabinetts balance nicely, a tribute to the surprising efficacy of the vintage’s quantifiably modest acids. There is also, noted von Kunow, a lot of Kabinett-labeled wine as a share of his 2018 crop. Fruit for higher-Prädikat wines tended to get picked well into October – the von Hövel harvest did not conclude until October 23 – and despite a relative paucity of botrytis yielded a Trockenbeerenauslese (which I have not yet tasted). “I would speak not of a single 2018 vintage,” suggested von Kunow, “but rather of two vintages in one year, the first of which consisted of an abundant harvest of Kabinett at between 80 and 85 Oechsle,” and the second of which, by process of elimination, must be taken to include not just the collection’s three Spätlesen and sole Auslese, but also its two Kabinetts from the Scharzhofberg. (For background on this estate, including its recent expansion and viticultural as well as stylistic evolution under young Max von Kunow, consult the introductions to my coverage of its 2014s, 2015s and especially 2016s.)