Picked with 190° Oechsle but without any botrytis, the 2018 Kiedrich Gräfenberg Beerenauslese opens with a concentrated and spicy yet very delicate and salty bouquet with candied lemon and grapefruit aromas. On the palate, this is a seamlessly textured, wonderfully fruity, fresh and elegant BA with lingering finesse and salinity as well as mineral vitality and freshness. This is a super clear and elegant, highly stimulating BA and one of the most fascinating I have ever tasted in the Rheingau. Tasted in August 2019. SR

Rich apricot aromas lead to the palate, which has such pure and intense flavors of apricot conserve. Very rich and very ripe. There is density and intensity of fruit, but the acidity is also so strong and so pure here. Essence-like. Late, spicy edge to the finish. So much to come. Drink for decades. Stuart Pigott

Candied lemon and grapefruit peels, peach preserves and raw mushroom greet the nose, along with a haunting suggestion of wisteria. The viscous, glycerol-rich palate introduces both salted caramel and intense brightness of lemon and grapefruit that cut the wine’s richness and sweetness without engendering any sense of bifurcation. The prodigious finish, for all of its sweetness, is both animating and mouthwatering. DS