I continue to be pleasantly befuddled by the great German estate wines of the last decade. Is the 1996 going to be the keeper? Are the 1999’s just fat and pleasing wines with the depth of Paris Hilton? Each time I begin to conclude such simple-minded generalizations, I find myself surprised.

The 1990’s have always been brilliantly structured, and Ernie Loosen’s wines of that vintage have reflected the incipient excellence and structure. Still the 1990 Gold Kapsule Auslese I tasted was rounder and lower in acid than I expected. Not in a bad way, but in a 1999 way.

Yet the wine finished nearly austere; imagine the sugars in a GKA 1990 from Dr. Loosen and ponder that last statement. Maybe there is structure for days here, but it’s too easy to focus on the friendly stuff.