Nikolaihof’s recently released 2009 Riesling Steiner Hund Reserve delivers a scintillating, virtually mesmerizing array of high-toned floral and herbal scents of distillate-like high-toned penetration. I’m not even going to start trying to name them! Added to that are wet stone intimations of the mossy, alkaline, iodine-like and otherwise mineral elements that inform this wine’s finely, seamlessly, and complexly woven carpet of flavor. While there are gloss and silken texture present, there are also cut, energy and refreshing brightness that belie the nature of the 2009 vintage. Seeds and grains seemingly as varied as the herbs and flowers with which this wine announced itself, lend deeply mouthwatering savor as well as enhanced invigoration to almost unending primary juiciness of apple, lime and white peach. A bell-like sense of clarity permits every nuance of this amazing Riesling’s kaleidoscopically interactive oscillations to reverberate. (Pick your metaphor: on another occasion, I imagined the clarity of a pristine pool through which the interactive elements shimmered.) Plan to follow this for at least another decade. -David Schildknecht