The advent of technology has enabled me to count to 400!
2010 Graacher Domprost Spatlese Selbach-Oster
Very pale yellow/green.
Nose > Honeysuckle, rose-petal, lanolin, key-lime, yellow-peach, nectarine, kiwi-fruit, musk-melon, mango, pineapple, & powdered minerals.
Really heavenly slatey minerality & sweaty/sappy Riesling fruit, with hint of creamed-corn.
Very pungent, slatey/steely/sweaty, exotic, & elegant.
Palate > Big, angular, creamy/steely/slatey white-peach, lime-oil, mango, & blackcurrant.
Fleshy key-lime, w/some citrus-pith mid-palate.
Finishes with slightly bitter lime-flesh, pungent red & black-cherry, intertwined with highish, but pure, ripe acidity (seems like mostly tartaric here).
Long aftertaste & extended finish.
Wow is this elegant & classy, as well as stealthily quite intense, powerful even. Great balance & structure.
Probably more than medium sweet, but its medium+ acidity & great intensity make it drink a bit dryer than it (probably) is.
Another beauty from this stable in 2010. This Riesling is too elegant to scream WOW, but it is right there.
Given your obvious enjoyment of higher acidity Riesling, please try to find some of the 2008 Anrecht. The '09 is excellent, but I bet the '08 will be even more up your alley.
Funny that you mention the 08 Anrecht, David. I’ve had one and have one more in my cellar, but I remember that I liked it quite a lot so I went to check my note on it. Well, after reading my private note I started scanning the recent notes for it. This one caught my eye (apologies to Eric if I’m not allowed to show notes here):
on 9/12/2011 flawed bottle: I’m thinking there must have been something wrong with this. Smelled like a burning condom with a touch of Santorum on it.
I will definitely look for some older Anrecht - I’m sure the 2010 is killer, too (& I will still try some), but it seems to have made quite a price jump.
You are right - I Do Love acidity. What I value even above an excellent, to high-ish (ripe) acidity is intensity/concentration of flavor. Just one of the reasons the 2010 German Rieslings have got my head spinning.
But I’m also a fan of 2003 - low acid, but many intense Auslesen.
Hard to tell 3rd hand exactly, but this sounds worse than reduction.
Burnt rubber is usually fairly clearly Mercaptan, which is the (irreversible) byproduct of hydrogen sulfide left in the wine.
Santorum is more in the bacterial range.
Both these flaws (if I’m interpreting 3rd hand correctly) would be endemic to a single lot of wine, & almost definitely not just show up in a single bottle.
I’d be interested to hear more if this is a particular taster you know/trust & not just the odd note.
Certainly leaning toward the latter considering comments from both you & David.
The 2010 Selbach-Osters are amazing. I chatted with Johannes last week at the Terry Theise tasting of 2011s in LA, and I was giving him kudos on those and his 2010’s. He said his 2010 Rotlay is the best wine he’s ever made. His 10s are a fantastic lineup of wines at all levels – beautiful acidity!
Have tasted a couple other of his 2010’s, & it’s very hard to disagree.
'10 Zeltinger Sonnenuhr Kab - Picked up a bunch at less than $20 !? !? !
Wines like these are why I’m spending almost all my wine allocated cash on 2010 Riesling at the moment!
'10 Zeltinger Sonnenuhr Spat 1 Star - A real WOW wine. A BA at harvest - tastes more like an electrified Gold Kap Spat!
Have floating around my brain that the '10 Rotlay is a near TBA with something like 14 g/L TA (acid) ? ! ?
Will absolutely be keeping an eye out for one.
I’ve been a big fan of German Riesling since the late 70’s, & 2010 is my favorite vintage. Yes, even including '71, '75, & '01.
It’s the off the charts intensity in many of the wines.