2003 Dönnhoff Niederhäuser Hermannshöhle Riesling Spätlese - Germany, Nahe (12/1/2007)
Opened for Laura's birthday dinner. I was very surprised at how closed this was on the nose. I never expected the '03s to close down, but there it is. On the palate it was much more open, and not showing any of the traits (heaviness, lack of acid) of 2003. Instead this was elegant, layered with delicious fruit and mineral flavors, very long and well balanced. We lingered over the wine for a couple of hours, and by the end the nose had even started to open up a bit, and the palate was even more interesting, showing a further depth of fruit covering firm minerals and a surprisingly refeshing acid balance. I would never have picked this as a 2003. Given the youthfullness of the fruit and the closed state of the nose I will leve our remaining bottles for 3-5 more years to develop and open more.