Hauth-Kerpen, “Wehlener Sonnenuhr” Riesling Auslese

Wehlener Sonnenuhr. It doesn’t exactly roll off the tongue, but to lovers of serious Riesling it’s music to the ears. Try saying it: VAY-len-er ZON-en-ooer. Meaning “The Sundial of Wehlen,” it’s the name of one of the Mosel Valley’s most famous vineyard sites, one that tilts toward the sun so perfectly that a sundial was built into its terraces in the 19th century.When you see this vineyard designation on a label, it jumps out right alongside the estate name, which in today’s case is Hauth-Kerpen. During my visit to the region last year, I was thrilled to acquire a small parcel of this ethereal 2003 Riesling Auslese, a classic Mosel wine that is at once dense and persistent on the palate but also sprightly and almost weightless—a feat German Riesling from a great vineyard is uniquely qualified to pull off. Having spent more than a decade in bottle, this wine has taken on a more mature golden tint and added some secondary notes of honey and petrol, but its auslese level of residual suga