We finished the final tastings of the wines from the Pfalz in Jürgen Mathaß' kitchen in Arzheim yesterday. This is the only region in Germany where Pinot Blanc fared so well in 2010…and a wide range of dry Riesling shone. Not everything was gold, though, and several lesser known estates challenged their peer's hegemony in this discipline, but Dr. Bürklin-Wolf remains - with another excellent vintage under its belt - first among equals here. The evening ended in the garden with a 1989 from Becker out of Jürgen's private cellar. This was the wine that first put that estate on the map. The 2009s will keep it there - and the Becker-Huber duel on the 19th will be a showdown, with each having several arrows in its quiver. Comments