2015 Riesling trocken

“Everything clicked,” reported Max von Kunow of 2015. “We had picture-perfect, fully ripe clusters. If we had a problem,” he added, “it was too little botrytis to make any T.B.A., B.A. or gold-capsule Auslese. Across the entire estate we had maybe two or three percent botrytis, and not all of that was usable.” In fact, what Auslese there is in this year’s collection does not reflect its overall strength. Some insights into the many changes in recent years at this estate, including its expansion, are offered in the introduction to my coverage of its 2014s. But a restless and ambitious young von Kunow continues to explore his options, so there are stylistic surprises year by year. His distinctively delicious approaches to Grosses Gewächs this vintage go hand in hand with continued respect for Riesling of hidden or discreet sweetness and a proselytizer’s zeal for Kabinett. Von Kunow did not bottle most of his 2015s until late spring, but then bottled the Grosse Gewächse by midsummer. No wine in this collection was dedicated to the estate’s monopole Kanzemer Höhecker; no wine was brought to the 2016 auction; and the Kosher Kabinett was in an unfinished state at the time of my September 2016 visit and not available subsequently stateside.