2001 J & HA Strub Niersteiner Paterberg Riesling Spätlese ***
I've had lots of up and down experiences as I worked my way through a case of this wine. Some bottles have seemed very immature and closed, while others have shown an overly aged character (e.g. lots of dried fruit). Of course now that I am down to 2 bottles (ok...1 bottle) the wine has finally decided to come back out to play. When I pulled the cork the aroma of subtly grilled pineapple jumped right out of the bottle. The pineapple aroma continued to dominate, but it was joined by some maturing elements (spice, citrus peel) as well. At 10 years post release this wine is still extremely sweet, but the stars on the label give some indication that it's no ordinary spatlese. In fact this really functions more like a bright auslese, with the exception that it does not have the honeyed character of botrytis. I like where this wine is right now, though there's no lack of fruit or sweetness, so no worries about it drying out any time in the near future. Drink with rich food.