"Trink, was klar ist, lieb, was rar ist" ("Drink what's pure, love what's rare"). The words and the ornate illustrations of the Josephöfer label are probably a better indicator of what's inside the bottle than anything I can summarize here. This is one of my favorite Riesling sites on the Mosel, and given that the 2007 German vintage has turned out to be nothing short of addictive, I've been keeping my eyes open for this solely-owned vineyard of the Reichsgraf von Kesselstatt estate.

The Josephshöf vineyard once belonged to a monastery, but the 8-hectare site is now an alleinbesitz (monopole) of the Reichsgraf von Kesselstatt which has owned the vineyard since secularization in 1858. Situated between Wehlener Sonnenuhr and Graacher Domprobst, Josephshöf is a south-facing, steep site at an angle of 60 degrees. The top soil is similar to other classic Mosel sites with its Devonian blue slate, but Josephshöfer has deeper, heavier sub-soils than those of its neighbors. These sub-soils typically produce wines that are rich, broad, and perhaps less nervy than Sonnenuhr and Domprobst. This may be the reason that Hugh Johnson denotes this as an "excellent" site, rather than an "exceptional" one in his World Atlas of Wine.

Nonetheless, if you combine these rich sub-soils with the nearly perfect 2007 growing season for Riesling (the longest ever hang-time on record), you arrive at a wine where substance and ripeness couples with racy acidity. I've always been impressed by Josephshöfer's balance and texture, and the 2007 Kabinett shows its typical richness and power but with pronounced nectarine and white flower blossoms, intense slate infused minerality, and a focused core of acidity which drives a seemingly never-ending finish.

www.kesselstatt.com