2001 Selbach-Oster Bernkastler Badstube Riesling Spatlese Mosel – Saar – Ruwer, 8.5% alc: I lucked into five of these beauties during the summer for little more than a song and a dance; the retailer didn’t know what he had, the bottles had been hanging around and hanging around and he just wanted to get rid of them. We went through four of them over successive months with no notes taken, enjoying every sip, so when I opened the last one recently, I thought it might be a good idea to record some impressions.
Pale straw color, with enticing aromas of moderate petrol, white peach, a little apple and hint of citrus and honey; on the palate there’s more peach and apple, along with that hint of citrus and honey, underscored with a good dose of steely mineral and a little less petrol than the aromatics give at this point. Excellent cut and length, with medium sweetness and great aging potential, but I like these so much, I just can’t keep my hands off of them. I opened one late in the summer with daughter Jessica Rose aka Dolphin Girl, and being the big Riesling lover that she is, she just murmured, “Mmm, yeah…”
This wine is everything a fine Spatlese should be, and will easily develop and improve through its 10th birthday and beyond; too bad I couldn’t save at least one until then. Maybe I’ll luck into a few more, but in the meantime, if you have any of this, don’t be afraid to pair it with some spicy Asian cuisine, or even some pan fried trout, brook, rainbow or otherwise.
A Paul Mann Selection: Imported by L&L Wine World, Royal Oak, MI
2001 S.A. Prüm Graacher Himmelreich Riesling Spatlese Mosel – Saar – Ruwer, $29.99, 8% alc.: Another fine ’01 Mosel Spatlese that I found languishing in another out of the way corner of Day-twah, and one I couldn’t haggle down to a price more favorable to the buyer than the retailer, but no matter, it’s worth the tariff. The descriptors are much the same as for the Selbach-Oster; the pale straw color, the petrol, white peach, honey and steely mineral, with a similar medium sweetness, but less citrus and a decidedly earthy quality, all of which are underscored with just a hint of decaying fruit that does nothing to lessen the appeal. There’s also a little less acidity, a somewhat oily quality, and good length on the finish. I like this wine a lot, although not quite as well as the Selbach-Oster noted above, which seems to be just a little more finely chiseled. Still, it’ll make a fine match for the same foods, and is none too shabby while just sipping and enjoying the music of the Buena Vista Social Club.
Imported by Wein-Bauer, Inc., Franklin Park, IL
2001 Kees-Kieren Graacher Himmelreich Riesling Auslese Mosel – Saar – Ruwer, $19.99, 8% alc.: Based on a sample of this pale gold colored sweetie that I received a while back, I bought up the last two cases in the state for my department, and purchased several for personal consumption at the great close-out price. I shared the second to last one a few weeks ago with Charter Gangster Scott ”the Geek” Tobias, and like me, he was just so impressed with it, calling it “sweet, but not sentimental,” adding that it’s “clean, like a baby is clean.” It’s clean all right, but it’s complex as well, with delicious peach, apricot, honey and petrol in both flavor and aroma. With good acidity, some underlying minerality and a slightly oily texture, it’s still primary, and yet so tasty, with a long, long finish, I wasn’t at all surprised when Scott called it “the best Riesling I’ve ever had.” It’s not the best Riesling I’ve ever had, but it’s certainly one of the best wines of any kind that I’ve had in 2006. I wish I’d brought both cases home, instead of selling most of it to those lucky customers.
A Paul Mann Selection: Imported by L&L Wine World, Royal Oak, MI
- from The Drawing of the Threes
Reporting from Day-twah,
geo t.
