Selbach-Oster Riesling Spatlese, Mosel, Germany

澤巴赫雷司令遲摘白葡萄酒

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This year’s generic Selbach-Oster 2010 Riesling Spatlese seems to give away its Bernkasteler Schlossberg origins in its distinctively dark cherry fruit, although another large portion of the blend comes from Zeltinger Himmelreich and a bit even from Graacher Himmelreich. Juicy and persistent, with cooling hints of green herbs and a touch of wet stone adding interest, this impeccably-balanced Spatlese should be capable of delivering delight for a decade, not that anyone is likely to give it a chance to prove that. “From the look of the grapes in early October,” relates Johannes Selbach, “it seemed we would have green, hard-edged wines this year. But the saving grace” – that three-word description spoken in English, incidentally – “was that if you waited, the weather cooperated just long enough, and eventually real ripeness and interesting aromas developed. At that point, we picked in a hurry, finishing in early November.” Reacting to the high-acid nature of 2010 material – much of it double-salt de-acidified as must – Selbach finished nearly all of his wines with significant residual sugar, and it was literally half by accident that any of these ended up with a profile that could be called “Kabinett.” Otherwise, this is a vintage dominated by sweet Spatlese and Auslese to an extent that in its relative stylistic homogeneity compels me to recollect my earliest experiences with this estate and the dominance in certain mid-’1980s vintages of off-dry Kabinett and Q.b.A.! The high ripeness and botrytized complexity that characterize this collection is reflected in the fact that the estate’s three by now familiar and no longer Pradikat-designated, block-picked parcel bottlings were served me after I had tasted the wines labeled “Auslese,” and there was not the least awkwardness to the transition (although for now this vintage looks to have rewarded selection at least marginally over block picking). “The two most unusual botrytis vintages of my career,” remarks Selbach, “have been 2006 and now 2010. But whereas the 2006s were opulent, 2010 delivered sleek, thoroughbred racehorses built for the long haul.” Hang on for a quite possibly wild ride, then, because as impressive as these wines are, just as Selbach intimated, they are highly unusual and their future track record correspondingly inscrutable. If 2009 was clearly a year for Schlossberg to shine, 2010 is a year of more predictable favoritism toward Zeltinger Sonnenuhr.Importers: There are a few regional importers of certain Selbach wines, but the majority (and those whose prices are noted above) are Terry Theise Estate Selections, imported by Michael Skurnik Wines, Inc., Syosset, NY; tel. (516) 677-9300

The Selbachs turn out some attractive and affordable negociant bottlings under the J. & H. Selbach label, but their 2009 Saar Riesling Spatlese – sourced, somewhat improbably, from a highly-reputed grower and vineyard in that region both of which will remain nameless – is negociant wine designed to play in the same league with Selbachs’ estate wines. Pink grapefruit, pineapple, apple, and quince are effusively deployed, with the wine’s high residual sugar nicely integrated not only thanks to ample acidity but also to extended time on the lees. There is a nice hint of creaminess lending counterpoint to a sense of refreshment enhanced by tart impingement of apple skin and rhubarb. This will probably become yet more interesting as it sheds baby fat and perform well over at least a 15 year period – not that many who read this (let alone any who don’t) will put that prediction to the test. “The autumn was super, with little stress,” remarked Johannes Selbach, who is more often seen furrowing his exceedingly high brow when describing even a highly successful harvest! What there was of botrytis, he reports, came late, and he reported that what rain there was in November was of negligible significance. Where many 2009 collections disappointed slightly as they reached the limits of possible vintage Oechsle, the Selbach-Oster collection proceeded from strength to profound strength. Most of the wines were bottled in May, but some of the dry and nobly sweet lots were very late even to finish fermenting and a few had not yet been bottled even when I tasted in September. True to an intention he stated last year, Selbach has bottled without Pradikat the fruits of block-pickings from his three top parcels, each named on its label. (For more about the principles involved, consult in particular my note on the 2005 “Schmitt” Auslese – in issue 169 – and that on this year’s dry “Schmitt” Spatlese below.) This year’s collection continues the trend for wines from Zeltingen’s Schlossberg to shine with special complexity and elegance after the many years in which they seemed destined at this address to take a back seat to those of Sonnenuhr. Not only were the vineyards of Zeltingen among the most celebrated on the Mosel during the 19th and early 20th century, but Karl Heinrich Koch epochal survey of 1881 places the Schlossberg as among the Mosel, Saar, and Ruwer’s top 11 sites, and one can appreciate this while savoring a wine like this year’s “Schmitt” trocken.Importers: There are a few regional importers of certain Selbach wines, but the majority (and those whose prices are noted above) are Terry Theise Estate Selections, imported by Michael Skurnik Wines, Inc., Syosset, NY; tel. (516) 677-9300

The generic Selbach-Oster 2008 Riesling Spatlese Saar is in fact a single-vineyard wine whose must Selbachs collected right from the press and vinified in Zeltingen, and whose source is to remain anonymous. (Even the fact that it is from the Saar is not evident on the bottles presentation label.) Smelling Saar-typically of cherry, herbs and lime, it offers luscious yet bright palate satisfaction, with a slick of honey or quince suggested in one of those 2008 finishes that manages to be both soothing and refreshing. I would not be surprised if it remained delicious for a decade. Johannes Selbach responded to the high energy and acidity of the 2008 vintage by giving most of the wines extra fine-lees contact and later-than-usual bottling. As a champion of (in his words) “genuine Kabinett” and “drinking wine, not trophy wine” and a resister against the encroachment of high must weights and residual sugar to which the weather in most recent vintages has left even him susceptible, Selbach was predictably overjoyed both with the refreshment, delicacy, and infectious drinkability made possible by vintage 2008, and with its preponderance of Kabinett and Spatlese. Several single-parcel, block-picked (i.e. the whole crop at once), vineyard-designated wines were essayed (that from the Anrecht – within Zeltinger Himmelreich – being new this year) although at Spatlese rather than, as usually in the past, Auslese Pradikat level. In fact, it remains Selbach’s intention to very soon remove the already small-print reference to Pradikat from these special bottlings, whose focus is intended to be entirely on reflecting terroir and vintage. (Ironically, though, the reference to the sites themselves remain in very small print, because the authorities are testy about the use of geographical designations other than those of the official Einzellagen singled-out – or, to put it more appropriately, assembled – in 1971.)There are a few regional importers of certain Selbach wines, but the majority (and those whose prices are noted above) are Terry Theise Estate Selections, imported by Michael Skurnik Wines, Inc., Syosset, NY; tel. (516) 677-9300

The generic (largely Zeltinger Himmelreich) Selbach-Oster 2007 Riesling Spatlese combines peach and fresh apple; distinctly wet-stone, saline, and alkaline minerality; and a faintly drying nip of botrytis in its finish. This will offer plenty of pleasure over the next several years, and would no doubt keep well for more than a decade, if there were not so many more interesting candidates for cellaring in this collection. The Selbach crew did some pre-selection at the end of September, leading directly into a main harvest that lasted until November 10. Johannes Selbach says he often had to find things to keep his crew occupied while waiting for what he judged the optimum moments to pick. After having been through 2006, he was determined to have everything and everybody ready should circumstances suddenly dictate haste, which of course they never did. Selbach was delighted – as a self-proclaimed defender of “true Kabinett” – to have some genuinely light-weight yet intensely-flavored wines this year, and he was the first to acknowledge that not only the prevailing weather but also the abundant crop (even allowing for thinning) helped make ripe-tasting yet relatively low must-weight Riesling possible. He notes that there was relatively little botrytis, and then late. In view of that assessment, I was surprised at the extent to which this year’s Spatlesen evinced evidence of it. As for the dry and nearly-dry wines in this year’s collection, “it’s like a homecoming,” remarks Selbach, “to get back to wines with stuffing but that are sleek, anything but heavy, and inviting of the next sip.”There are a few regional importers of certain Selbach wines, but the majority (and those whose prices are noted above) are Terry Theise Estate Selections, imported by Michael Skurnik Wines, Inc., Syosset, NY; tel (516) 677-9300.