Pinot Blanc is a white mutation of Pinot Noir, although the aromatic and flavour profile is generally a lot closer to Chardonnay. This wine is a pale yellow/straw colour, with aromas of lemon zest, peach and greengage, with some interesting honeysuckle and herby notes (oregano in particular). And as with most of the wines grown in this region, there is also a strong mineral element, in this case a note of flint. The palate is at the same time both racy and fairly rich, with peach and apple flavours, a touch of honey and again a strong backbone of flinty, steely minerality and tongue-tingling lemony acidity. It isn't as rich as (say) an Alsace Pinot Blanc, but it is no shrinking violet either, and has an impressively long finish. In a region dominated largely (and quite rightly) by Riesling, this provides an interesting and rather delicious diversion.

Feinherb is yet another style of wine to emerge in recent years, in the already bewildering hierarchy of German wine styles. But it is a style that fits nicely between the fruity (or "fruchtighe") styles that we in the UK identify with the lower alcohol Kabinett and Spätlese wines and the sometimes rather austere trockens and halbtockens. The alcohol level also tends to fall between these two groups, with the resulting style being drier, whilst still retaining a good degree of fruitiness and an added touch of florality. And this is a fine example of its kind - dry, but not too dry, aromatic and winey. The nose offers delicate aromas of spring flowers, apple, citrus, herbs and heightened minerality. The palate is almost (though not quite) bone dry, but with more than enough ripe, juicy fruit to imbue it with a fairly rich, mouth-filling texture, with sweet-and-sour apple and lime flavours, underpinned by pronounced steely minerality and nervy, spine-tingling acidity.

This gorgeous Riesling has pungent aromas of apricot, lime and apple, with notes of cinnamon and clove. The effect is a bit like piercing the pastry on an apple pie, fresh from the oven. It also displays some nice floral and herbaceous notes - how is it possible to encounter so many wonderful aromas in a single wine?! The flavours are equally as intense, concentrated and really quite rich, with palate-coating flavours of lime oil, nectarine and dessert apples, the sweetness of which is offset by spine-tingling acidity, slatey minerality and a refreshing spritzand again a distinct, though gentle spiciness. The intensity of the fruit is more akin to a Spätlese (i.e. late picked) than a mere Kabinett, but I guess that is the beauty of the 2009 vintage in the Mosel - you get more bang for your buck in this vintage. Since we first tasted this in September 2010, it has shed a little of its puppy fat, with the intensely mouth-watering acidity integrating more with the fruit. I have no doubt that this wine will age and evolve gracefully for another 5 to 8 years, but I find the combination of mandarin and lime, a touch of honeyed richness and oiliness, together with truly mouth-watering acidity almost impossible to resist. A superb wine and the perfect introduction to the delights of top-class Mosel Riesling.

The nose on this wine really is something to behold - intense lime, apple, stone fruit, herb and wet slate aromas, with a palpable whiff of the acidity lying in wait on the palate. When I first tasted this in September 2010, it seemed soft in comparison to the 2009, but perhaps that intense acidity and minerality have begun to temper the overt fruitiness - all part of the evolutionary process in great Riesling. Whatever the case, this has turned into a wine with incredible focus and verve, with lime oil, tree fruit and grape flavours melding beautifully with truly mouth-watering, palate-cleansing acidity and a mineral depth worthy of the finest Mosel Rieslings. As with many of the wines in this selection, it is so, so good to drink now, but I think this one has the structure to age and evolve for perhaps another 10 years. So the choice is yours - drink it now, for its sheer vitality and youthful exuberance, or leave it for a few years to develop the more mineral and tertiary aromas and flavours of classic aged Riesling. It really is a fabulous wine - and I promise it will put a smile on your face!

Bright, pale yellow/gold, with a water rim. Of the trio of Hain Spätlese 2009's in our range, this one is probably the softest, most fruit-forward and hedonistic of them all. That said, it already shows a fair degree of complexity, even at this early stage. The nose is absolutely brimming over with the scents of fresh grapes, mandarin orange and apricot, with plenty of that classic Mosel minerality cutting right through the fruit. My rule of thumb for 2009 Mosel Rieslings is that the Kabinetts have almost Spätlese levels of ripeness, whilst the Spätlesen are more akin to Auslesen - and this one is a perfect example, with intensely ripe, luscious fruit flavours and a hefty dollop of residual sugar. But great Riesling at any level needs acidity to balance the sweetness, and this one has it by the bucket-load. The result is a wine of both immense concentration and supreme balance, with the acidity countering the fruit sweetness perfectly. The purists would probably say that this wine needs 5 to 10 years before it is really ready. I say it is utterly wonderful and delicious now - and will always be so.

There's a touch of sulphur on the nose at present, but this quickly blows off and is certainly not enough to mask the intense mineral, lemon and lime aromas, with hints of white pepper, cloves and flowers. The palate shows intense lime and peach flavours, dessert apples and spice. For all its lush sweetness and huge core of ripe fruit, it remains incredibly focused, with laser-like acidity and minerality to spare. Whilst it possesses a huge core of ripe, rich fruit, it remains balanced, poised and very long. Fabulous stuff.

Another amazingly intense wine. The nose has stone/slate, with an array of fruit aromas including (but not limited to) lemon zest, peach, apricot and mango, along with an interesting toffee/fudge note. And what a palate! The flavours of oranges, apricots and grapes are so rich, so intense, so concentrated, yet once again this is a wine that is so focused and zingy with its firm backbone of minerality and acidity. It is just this sort of contrariness that I love in fine Riesling - how can a wine be so luscious and seemingly sweet, yet so utterly bracing, juicy and mouth-watering? Is it worth a couple of quid more than the No.12 Rotschiefer and the No.13 Grauschiefer above? I think it is. A brilliant, delectable wine, with a great future.