The Kesselstatt 2006 Kaseler Nies-chen Riesling Grosses Gewachs represents one of the most concentrated distilled fruit aromas I can ever recall. The somewhat spiritous bitter suggestions are more than compensated for by the sheer intrigue and audacity of such a nose of kirsch prunelle maraschino and smoke. Persistent fruit pit bitterness follows this relatively full-bodied (13% alcohol) Riesling through to a penetrating finish with red berry lemon zest and sheer wet stone mingling with the high-toned spiritous essences. Where this dramatic wine is headed I would not attempt to guess but it would be fascinating to experiment with even if only in the short term. (The Grosses Gewachs bottlings here incidentally continue to bear three stars on their labels a hold-over from their former official status as dry Spatlesen.)