Dr. Thanisch, Graacher Himmelreich, Riesling Spätlese Trocken

Sommeliers, importers, and writers have been spreading the good word about German Riesling for a long time. Forget the overplayed conversation of “sweet or dry”: We like Riesling for its inimitable aromatics and, in the case of today’s wine, its sublime balance of richness and freshness.In the celebrated Mosel-Saar-Ruwer region, the name Thanisch is a prominent one, but can also make for some confusion: I often see two different estates wrongly umbrellaed as just “Dr. H. Thanisch,” when in fact, the original Hugo Thanisch estate split in the 1980s, divided between two heirs. In the interest of clarity, today’s wine is from Dr. H. Thanisch, Erben Müller-Burggraef (not Dr. H. Thanisch, Erben Thanisch), run by Barbara Rundquist-Müller—a point I make not just for the tiny sliver of German wine enthusiasts who may know the difference between the Thanisches but because I wanted to properly ascribe credit where due for this stunning Spätlese Trocken. Spätlese fermented to dryness is simply on