Yesterday, a local wine store was pouring mostly 2015 Selbach Oster Rieslings. I have been going pretty long on the 2015’s so far, but had not tried any of these, so it was a great chance to try them. They also poured a Brundlmayer Kamptaler Terrassen Riesling from Austria. Good, not great (my note is posted on CT).
2015 Selbach-Oster Riesling QbA feinherb- Germany, Mosel Saar Ruwer
I was a bit disappointed as this was the first SO tasted from 2015. It is actually ok for the money. Light golden in color. The nose has a bit of minerals and a bit of pineapple. Also some apples. While there is a perception of sweetness from the ripeness, it is dry. It is also a bit flabby which surprised me. Somewhat innocuous as well. I was hoping to be impressed and it just is. Certainly worth drinking and at $18, it seems fairly priced. (87 pts.)
2015 Selbach-Oster Zeltinger Himmelreich Riesling Kabinett halbtrocken- Germany, Mosel Saar Ruwer
Now we are talking. A veritable buzz in the crowd over this one. Light golden in color. The nose has some peach fruit, a bit of minerality, some citrus. Very nice. Ripe but only slightly sweet on the palate. An interesting mix of sugar and ripeness. It works, thanks to the acidity. Lovely streak of acidity throughout the wine. Long finish. I had the end of the bottle, so i assume it saw a lot of air. Should have decades in it, but with air, it is drinking well now. This is what I cam hoping to find. $23. (92 pts.)
2015 Selbach-Oster Riesling Kabinett- Germany, Mosel Saar Ruwer
It’s ok but again lacking that something special. Light golden in color. The nose is nice with peaches and slight minerals. On the palate, it is a bit cloying. Sweet but lacking that acid punch to counter it. There is good fruit on the palate, pineapples and peaches. Nice finish. A fine wine, and worth drinking, but not a screaming value (in the Riesling world) at $21. (88 pts.)
2015 Selbach-Oster Riesling Spätlese- Germany, Mosel Saar Ruwer
And were back. Light golden in color. The nose is really nice with tropical fruits, wet stones and slight peaches. On the palate, the fruit is precise yet big. Great acidity. A very lively wine. Great balance. Nice texture. Long finish. Just a delicious wine but one you can keep drinking. $26 and well worth that. I bought some and its worth buying some more. Great wine with upside. (93 pts.)
2015 Selbach-Oster Graacher Domprobst Riesling Auslese- Germany, Mosel Saar Ruwer
A spectacular wine with all kinds of room for improvement. Light golden in color. The nose has peaches and apricots and slight pineapples. Also a nice mineral streak. On the palate, great acidity that cuts thru the sweetness. The sweetness is round and delicious but not cloying. It stops short of dessert sweetness although no doubt, it could work as a dessert wine. Almost seamless at this stage. It would be fun to watch it mature. $35 which for a wine of this pedigree is a good price. I have trouble figuring out when to drink these kinds of wines though. What foods? Where in the meal? A bit rich without food. (94 pts.)
2001 Selbach-Oster Zeltinger Himmelreich Riesling Auslese- Germany, Mosel Saar Ruwer
I brought this and threw it in at the end. It was tight and really needed some air or time but so it goes. Golden in color. The nose is apricots and peaches. A slight oxidized note, very slight. On the palate, great acidity. Still plenty of oranges, and apricots left. Very complex. This was from a 375 and seemed to have a long life left in it. Probably close to peak in some ways short, in some ways right there. A nice end to the tasting. (93 pts.)
I bought a bunch of these but not all. Maybe a step down from Prum or Donnhoff, but just a step and well worth the money. Posted from CellarTracker
The usual suspects. Richter, Donnhoff, JJ Prum plus a continuing growing list of Fass Selections wines. I still plan on buying a few more as they hit the market place and I can taste them.
If it tasted just slightly sweet, it probably was, as Feinherb is usually applied to wines with a little residual sugar. As Terry Theise puts it in his 2016 catalog:
“I’ll define Feinherb. These are classic examples of (yet) another adage I’ve coined: The perfect dry wine is often not perfectly dry. In practice “Feinherb” can be used for anything from 10 grams/liter of RS (and most palates taste sugar discretely starting at 12g/l. “Brut” goes to 15) to somewhere
in the high 20s. It’s the zone where sugar is stealthy and as good as invisible. It’s extending the fruit, increasing the aroma, moderating the alcohol, and dancing with the sweetness already in your food.
But you do not taste it.”