The auctioned Muller 2009 Scharzhofberger Riesling Auslese Gold Capsule positively prickles, tweaking the nose with its pungently spicy, zesty, high-toned distillate-like intensity. Candied citrus rind, peach preserves, caramel, and white raisin inform a performance more intensely-concentrated and viscous than the corresponding Braune Kupp, but to me less mysteriously alluring and intriguing. Salted caramel, white raisin, and peach preserves inform a nearly ineradicable though for now – in a departure from the rest of the present collection – somewhat superficially sweet finish. In fairness both to this wine and my judgment (to the extent that some will understandably be tempted to question it), we have here an instance of considerable baby fat, almost unruly youthful exemplification of botrytis, and an embryonic wine whose underlying structure – while almost certainly in place – as well as whose future nature, are for now largely inscrutable. One thing certain is that even were this Riesling elixir – as would not be surprising – to goes into hibernation for a decade or more, it can be counted on for vitality 40 years from now. While Egon Muller harvested into November, he noted that the best results were mostly achieved before that, with "the Spatlesen and Auslesen picked in the early passes, which captured what there was of botrytis" on his vineyards, and the collection he fielded from 2009 is not merely notable for the extraordinary quality of select cuvees, but also for its outstanding consistency. Muller draws parallels with 1971, 1990, and 1997, while noting that his 2009s are higher in acidity than the estate's sensational 1997s. A comparison with 2007 also strikes me as inevitable, and I personally take Muller's self-deprecating remark that "in 2009 we tried to rectify certain failures of 2007" with a large grain of tartrate salt. Asked to clarify, he referred to his having in that year been less perseverant or conscientious ("konsequent") in the search for berries of top Auslese or T.B.A.-grade. (To whatever extent that was true of 2007, Muller certainly fooled me!) This year's litany of individual Kabinett bottlings represents a volume approximately equal to that of the collective Spatlesen; and despite Muller's decision to bottle his entire 2009 collection later than usual, one of those Kabinetts – an A.P. #2, and his sole lot of this vintage that represents an amalgamation of two fuders – had already been shipped from the winery without remainder by the time I visited in September. (As ill luck would have it, I learned too late to remedy this deficiency by press time that precisely this wine – at a suggested retail price of $60 – was the Kabinett being sold by Muller's national U.S. agent.) This year's Auslesen, notes Muller, tend to each represent the picking of one particular day from across numerous parcels. (As always, Muller wines from his monopole Braune Kupp are bottled under the Le Gallais label, but in my reports and our database, we do not treat Le Gallais as an independent estate, since it and the Scharzhof have for more than half a century operated as one.) Importer: Frederick Wildman & Sons, New York, NY (212) 355 0700

The Muller 2008 Scharzhofberger Riesling Auslese Gold Capsule exudes ethereal aromas of honey, white raisin, gardenia, heliotrope, white peach preserves, and marzipan. Rich and satiny yet sleek and enormously penetrating on the palate, it suggests incipient caramelization, but is largely given over to sheer concentration of pit fruit essences drenched in honey and shot through to a remarkable degree with saline, stony, and crystalline suggestions of things non-living. The almost raucous dynamic and baroque complexity of the corresponding Wiltinger contrasts sharply with the harmonious, serene, high-toned personality and heavenly levity on display here. In fact, it is hard to imagine a much more impressive example of sheer purity of noble botrytis, even if one were to ratchet up must weight and Pradikat. At the same time, it's hard to imagine a much more dramatic example of the inherent ability of the Scharzhofberg to pack loads of botrytis yet retain its sheer purity of fruit, its elegance, and its sensibly discernible vineyard identity. As Muller points out, this extraordinary elixir was possible only by dint of fanatically rigorous selection across nearly the entire range of his Scharzhofberg parcels. It should certainly outlive any American reading this who is legally allowed - even if, like the vast majority of us, unable - to purchase it. Egon Muller finds merit in the comparison of 2008 with 1988 - or perhaps, as I suggested of his collection specifically, to 1969, a vintage with which, as he pointed out, the youthful 1988s were frequently compared. He notes that -half the 2008 harvest became Kabinett, and most of the rest Q.b.A.- but most of these Kabinetts would have been classified a grade higher in the, for its time, -classic Spatlese vintage- of 1988. That said, Muller and his team - who, unlike most of their Saar neighbors in search of a balance of dry and nobly sweet wines, do not spray against botrytis in summer - managed some superb selective harvesting this year, for which, he relates -the last week in October was the best time. At the end of October, it rained a bit again, and the botrytis was no longer so good. And that's why there is so little nobly sweet wine this year.- Apropos Kabinett, Muller takes a dim view of creeping residual sugar in wines so-labeled - confessing that he did not prove immune to that temptation - and is now bottling in the 30-35 gram range. He is always at pains to point out that he views and styles such wines in the manner traditionally associated with so-called Naturwein rather than in a manner especially associated with capital--K- Kabinett. Nonetheless, 2008 is one vintage where the Muller Kabinett bottlings exhibit precisely the delicacy that many of us consider the essence of that post-1971 category. For the most part, these 2008s - which, as a group, constitute a summit of their vintage - were bottled significantly later than the estate norm. (As always, Muller wines from his monopole Braune Kupp are bottled under the Le Gallais label.) Importer: Frederick Wildman & Sons, New York, NY (212) 355 0700