Kai Schätzel Silvaner Niersteiner 2018

Drawn almost entirely from the Hipping vineyard, as it was in 2017. Seed-inflected pear and lime peel open things up, threaded with toasted rye, wood resin, and a gentle yeasty lift from some residual CO2. On the palate, the texture turns glossy and almost caressing, surprisingly rich for 11% alcohol, yet there's a real buoyancy to it that keeps things lively. Toasted nuts and a sourdough-like complexity, grainy, beery, faintly lactic, carry the finish and give it genuine savor. Schätzel's sole remaining Silvaner bottling, and a quietly compelling argument that it deserves more of his attention.