2005 LANGENBERG Domaine Marcel Deiss

The 2005 Langenberg leads with sultry and alluring aromas of lemon candy and honey, gardenia and orange blossom. For all of its sheer ripeness and honeyed character, its opulence, glycerin-richness, and sheer fat, this nevertheless also preserves a sense of buoyancy and refined delicacy of flowers in its long finish. Experienced connoisseurs of Deiss' artistry will recall a time when the gravelly Engelgarten (just behind his winery) was treated as the source for his 'basic' Riesling. But that wine always demonstrated a gustatory stature out of proportion to its then-modest price. Now, this site is back, featuring the same varietal diversity as Langenberg plus Pinot Noir. With drought-prone gravel especially, Deiss is convinced that diverse instruments are needed to achieve an expressive performance by his terroirs, and specifically a balance of extract and finesse such as Engelgarten permits.   92/100