Many thanks to Barry and Joan for hosting this event and to
Von for working out all the details with Mr. Selbach’s team. Many thanks also to Harris who works behind
the scenes as Treasurer keeping our organization solvent.
This was an incredible tasting. These were some the best wines I’ve tasted at
a GWS event. Mr. Selbach’s wines are a
paradigm of old world winemaking. The
wine world is a huge place and I don’t like to get tangled up in debates about
the superiority of one wine style to another.
However, my palate definitely prefers the old world style. I enjoyed these wines so much that I didn’t
take any tasting notes. When I am
drinking truly sublime wines, I want to enjoy them without having to think
about them. So, the tasting notes are
courtesy of my wife, Jen.
Mr. Selbach gave a very informative presentation and has a
wicked sense of humor. I could have
listened to him talk all night. He said
a few things that really caught my attention.
He mentioned that the best Rieslings from the USA are being crafted in
the Finger Lakes region. I completely
agree. Rieslings from the Anderson
Valley, Oregon and Napa just aren’t in the same league as the Finger Lakes
Rieslings. Unfortunately, they are
difficult to find. Occasionally, I have
seen them at Whole Foods and Beltramos on the Peninusula usually has a few.
I almost burst out laughing when Mr. Selbach talked about
the steps he takes to remove the flavors from the oak barrels by soaking them
before using them. I just had this
picture in my mind of a New World winemaker thinking that his brand new oak
barrel is not imparting enough vanilla to his wine and throwing oak chips into
the barrel.
I also recall Mr. Selbach saying that if you don’t have
great grapes, you can’t make a great wine.
Can you get anymore old school than that???
My general
impressions of Mr. Selbach’s wines are that they are a touch drier than you
would expect for each prädikat
level. Even his declassified wines are
not as sweet as you would expect. The
results are fantastic. I do not
necessarily dislike sweeter wines, but I do have a problem with the
over-the-top syrupy wines where the honeyed flavors overwhelm the palate. I enjoyed all of Mr. Selbach’s wines from the
Kabinett Trocken through the Auslesen.
The mico block wines (Anrecht, Rotlay and Schmitt) were the
stars of the tasting. For the micro
block wines, Mr. Selbach picks all the grapes in one passing from just a tiny
block of the vineyard. When he first
said that, I instinctively recoiled – wouldn’t selective picking with multiple
passes yield better results? The answer
is no and the proof is in the wine. Each
micro block wine had a distinct, complex palate and these were some of the better
German Rieslings I’ve tasted at any price.
Here are Jen’s tasting notes:
2008 Zeltinger Sonnenuhr Riesling Kabinett trocken
Herbal, minerally, grapefruit, long finish, succulent
mid-palate
2006 Zeltinger Himmelreich Riesling Kabinett halbtrocken
Spicy, zesty, graphite underneath, lemon curd
2011 Zeltinger Schlossberg Riesling Kabinett
Gorgeous florals, plenty of acidity and minerality, fennel,
supremely elegant
2011 Zeltinger Sonnenuhr Riesling Kabinett
Fruity, peachy, juicy with spice, creamy mid-palate, long
finish, luxurious but not lacking in freshness
2007 Graacher Domprobst Riesling Spätlese
Succulent dried fruits, good acidity underneath
2007 Zeltinger Schlossberg Riesling Spätlese*
Dried apricot, minerally, quite juicy
2006 Zeltinger Sonnenuhr Riesling Spätlese*
Pretty, delicate florals, quite rich and honeyed. A de-classified BA. Plenty of backbone underneath
2011 Zeltinger Himmelreich Riesling “Anrecht”
Wildly floral, plenty of acidity, long finish, lightest and
best of the micro blocks
2011 Zeltinger Sonnenuhr Riesling “Rotlay”
Floral, rich, close to BA, honeyed
2011 Zeltinger Schlossberg Riesling “Schmitt”
Gorgeous, rich, jammy, sticky, don’t even touch this one for
a decade.
2003 Zeltinger Sonnenuhr Riesling Auslese
Superb.
Spicy flavors, herbal, good acidity, dried fruits, quite restrained, no
botrytis.
