F.X. Pichler Riesling Loibenberg Trockenbeerenauslese 2015

Drawn from the most desiccated, botrytis-laden berries selected out from the corresponding B.A., this is an exercise in concentrated sweetness taken to its logical extreme. Salted caramel, honey, quince paste and warm brioche on the nose, cut through by lemon pith and candied grapefruit rind. The mid-palate is lush and enveloping, a thick, almost viscous richness that coats without cloying, saved by a vivid citric thread that adds tang and keeps the finish alive. The botrytis signature is present in that freshly-baked quality, but none of the damp, fungal edge that sometimes accompanies it. Sweetness dominates, as it does in the B.A., yet that zesty, piquant counterpoint in the finish is what elevates this into something genuinely compelling. Extraordinarily long.