Yellow. Ripe apple and peach with rising secondary fusel. Light, typical Mosel weight, moderate sweetness, pure fruit, long slate finish. At the cusp of full maturity. Delicious.

Full yellow. Over time, baked apple, honey, and pear, but it took a while to release these scents. Off dry, some bitterness to start but gradually found its footing and texture. Good but not as glorious as it can be.

Even ruby. Equal measures of black cherry and earth on the nose along with some mustiness that returned with more air. Pretty assertive, medium to full bodied, ripe entry cut by smokiness, excellent acidity, and some cooler green tones later. Impressive fruit, but I wonder if this was a slightly tainted bottle-would love to try again. There should be no problem holding this for an addition 5 or 6 years.

Medium ruby, no fading. Beautiful bouquet right out of the bottle, and it only deepened and improved. More menthol than the Clos St. Denis, and the fruit has a lighter, fresh, red berry quality. Soil wafted up with air. Light to medium bodied with outstanding impact and intensity for its weight. Elegant, harmonious, fluid, and very well balanced with just a trace of tannins left. Long and earthy in the best sense. Hands down, this wine outperformed the Clos St. Denis, which just seemed somewhat clumsy in comparison. Should add nuance and autumnal notes over the next decade, but hard to ask for more than it is giving now.