This is a release directly from the cellar. I have imported a small bit of this wine, years ago, and I remember loving it, but I did not taste it with Becker when I was there. To be honest, I have zero idea why he is offering me some now, but I never ask questions about this sort of thing. Collin did taste it and wrote that it has 34 grams of residual sugar and a seamless tension and is über-elegant. Hans Josef apparently responded: “It was not an easy wine to drink for the first five years.”

Either way, it is an honor to represent this history and we’ll all take it for granted, until it’s gone. And then we’ll tell stories to our grandchildren about Spätlesen that one could have with dinner, and about how Hans Josef Becker kept this in his cellar for nearly 20 years and only released it after he had spent the winter of 2023/2024 swimming in the Rhein, every single day.