Intense yellow-golden in color, the 2014 Haardter Herzog Rieslaner Auslese shows a very clear and concentrated, super ripe but also refreshing, yellow-fleshed fruit aroma on the nose. Sweet, lush and light on the elegant palate, this is a very precise, piquant and well defined Auslese; it has a racy and very salty, stimulating finish. This Auslese was picked with just 20% botrytis at 130° Oechsle and fermented to 10% alcohol; it should be stored for another 5-10 years, but can age for 30 years. - Stephan Reinhardt

Franzen’s team essentially worked backwards, picking out the most shriveled Rieslaner berries for TBA and BA, then coming right back that same day or the next to pick the rest for this Auslese, of which there are only 900 half-bottles--fewer than these vines have sometimes yielded of TBA. confectionery and exotic, this surprisingly pale, greenish-gold libation features papaya, quince jelly, glazed pineapple and candied kumquat on a heady nose and almost syrupy palate. This being Rieslaner, though, just enough fresh fruit acidity is delivered, in tandem with citrus rind piquancy, to keep the effect from being cloying. What’s more, a saline suffusion renders the long, soothing finish positively mouthwatering for all of its sweetness. -- David Schildknecht