Von Winning Pfalz Winnings Riesling

2017 Von Winning Pfalz Winnings Riesling...$15.99
Although this consistently outstanding cuvée, designed exclusively for the US market, was dedicated to legend-in-his-lifetime cellarmaster Hans-Günter Schwarz, who helped blend its inaugural 2014 installment, he professed to never having seen the label nor assessed a finished bottling until he tasted this 2017 along with me. Shrubby scents of boxwood and rosemary mingle with dried apricot and zesty lime, anticipating the pungent initial attack and subsequent grip with which this seizes the palate. Happily, there is a wealth of primary juiciness. Schwarz captured the whole point of “Winnings,” stylistically speaking, when he called attention to “the discreet residual that you detect on the finish, not for the sake of sweetness, but because it prolongs the fruit and lends harmony to the whole flavor profile [speichert den Frucht und gibt diesen ganzen Geschmacksbild eine Harmonie].” Put punningly, for an entry-level bottling, this displays “improbable innervation [unwahrscheinliche Geschmacksnerve].” (In German, taste buds are Geschmacksnerven.)
Rated 90/100 Vinous Media