Browse Tag

selbach-oster

Vending baroque

Selbach-Oster 2001 Zeltinger Sonnenuhr Riesling Spätlese 022 02 (Mosel-Saar-Ruwer) – Dust, salt, red cherry, makrut lime flesh. Concentrated and, while not delicious at the moment, certainly dancing around that adjective. (5/11)

Osterizer

Selbach-Oster 2007 Zeltinger Sonnenuhr Riesling Kabinett 027 08 (Mosel-Saar-Ruwer) – From 375 ml, and a gift from a friend who thought I’d either gotten it wrong or had an off bottle in a previous note. At first, there’s an almost milky aroma and texture to the wine, as if cidered steel had been squeezed from a Teutonic cow. Then there’s warming, which brings out both intensity and a surprisingly bit of cream for such a primary wine (guess that cow hasn’t left the vineyard). There’s just a bit of plastic to the finish, and it definitely detracts, but otherwise this is powerful, intense, and balanced…albeit miles from anything that would have been thought of as a kabinett in years gone by. (7/09)

Zelt up

[vineyard]Selbach-Oster 2007 Zeltinger Schlossberg Riesling Spätlese “Schmitt” 020 08 (Mosel-Saar-Ruwer) – Electric green apple soda. Lightly sweet, with makrut lime lacings. Flawless balance and poise. A really gorgeous wine. Wow! (12/08)

Osterizer

[label]Selbach-Oster 2007 Zeltinger Sonnenuhr Riesling Spätlese 009 08 (Mosel-Saar-Ruwer) – Very dense. Makrut lime, green apple, pear…and then dark, brooding coal underneath. A massive wine – certainly much larger than a spätlese should probably be, but then that’s the modern paradigm isn’t it? – but while it’s heavy, it’s balanced and long, and should age beautifully. (12/08)

Sonnenuhr & daughter

[label]Selbach-Oster 2007 Zeltinger Sonnenuhr Riesling Kabinett 027 08 (Mosel-Saar-Ruwer) – Severely sweet to the point of imbalance, with only decent acidity vs. what it needs, and a thick, soupy pear finish. I am quite aware that my impression of this wine is unusual (and frankly it’s the first Selbach-Oster I’ve disliked in a very, very long time), but unfortunately there’s no replacement bottle available. I’m burdening this note with such a lengthy caveat because I’m strongly suspicious that this particular bottle is not representative of the wine. (12/08)