Selbach-Oster Riesling Spatlese, Mosel, Germany

澤巴赫雷司令遲摘白葡萄酒

點(diǎn)擊次數(shù)：4502

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