Theoretically, the Spatlese category is no longer cool, because these wines are medium-sweet and therefore not food-friendly (try tempura, Vienna Schnitzel or Thai red curry). But this is a masterpiece of floral finesse! Lovely, mandarin note at the long, delicate and just off-dry finish. Drink or hold.

(95-96 points) The 2019 Brauneberger Juffer Sonnenuhr Riesling Spätlese opens with a bright and coolish, very delicate and filigreed bouquet of herbal/floral aromas intertwined with bright, young spring fruit and aromas of broken slate. On the palate, this is a round, charming, highly finessed and very elegant Spätlese with the lovely fruit and juiciness of the JSU and its unrivaled finesse. The weightless finish is salty-piquant, precise and highly stimulating. This 2019 is a picture-book Spätlese from the Juffer Sonnenuhr. Tasted as a sample in April 2020. -SR

Pristine gooseberry and white grapefruit introduce this pure-fruited spätlese. While delicate in frame, it's a powerfully concentrated, penetrating semisweet wine that balances brilliant lemon, lime and white peach against a dazzling mineral backbone. It's juicy and exuberant in youth but should stay at peak through 2030 and gain more earthen, savory complexities thereafter. - Anna Lee C. Iijima

Compelling and complex, this version is marked by its scintillating acidity and slate underpinning. Light on its feet yet intense, with peach, apricot and lime fruit that shows a saline accent and a mineral finish. Best from 2025 through 2043. — B.S.