This bottle of Piesporter Goldtropfchen Auslese 1971, Reichsgraf von Kesselstadt "Dom Klausenhof", AP Nr. 3 561 077-9-73, had been stored well since release, had a high fill, and still had a good cork.
This wine is still fairly light greenish-yellow in color. It is still quite youthful for a Riesling, and it is difficult to believe that it is nearly 35 years old. The wine is only mildly sweet with plenty of clean acidity to balance. The bouquet and taste are very classic German Riesling. The fruit is more of a peachy nature rather than the often tropical fruit found in the top 76 Auslesen. As with many of the best
71s, the main thing you can say about this wine is that it has near perfect balance. It could well last many more years. The Goldtropfchen vineyard is large for Germany, and the quality of it can vary quite a bit. While this wine does not have quite the complexity of the outstanding J J Prum Wehlener Sonnenuhr Long Gold Capsule 1971, it is still very good, especially for a Goldtropfchen. This wine is in better condition than all but a very few of the top 70 and 71 red Bordeauxs.