1999 Weingut Selbach-Oster, Riesling Spatlese, Zeltinger Sonnenuhr, Mosel-Saar-Ruwer Germany.
A very complete mature Riesling from Johannes Selbach, the 1999 Zeltinger Sonnenuhr Spatlese is in a great place right now and was a treat to revisit, as I had once sold these as new back in the day and drank more than a few in the past, at almost 20 it is still laser focused and mineral driven goodness. Thanks Marc, for sharing this beauty on your birthday, cheers, it was a thrill to celebrate with this classic Spatlese from one of my favorite producers in the Mosel. The Zeltingen vineyard is one of the greatest sources for Riesling there is, and it’s intense Devonian blue slate gives exceptional purity, ripe yellow fruits and mixed mineral/stony tones and spicy notes, with Sonnenuhr being a sun catcher spot that gives these old vines the warm exposure they need to produce amazingly balanced and complex wines, also, without question this site offers incredible value, especially for those that want to age their Riesling! Drier that one would expect, this 1999 Zeltinger Sonnenuhr is still very generous with layers of orchard fruits and delicate honeyed sweetness with smoky/flinty wet shale, brine, rosewater and kumquat tanginess with lingering apricot and candied citrus. Gaining textural creaminess and baked peachy notes with air, but staying brilliantly fresh and steely vibrant throughout, as with all Selbach wines there is a grace and authentic pleasure to be found here and with the signs of age adds charm and regal character, I love these wines. Be sure to score the latest releases, the 2015 and 2016 vintages are good as it gets for Selbach-Oster, and don’t miss the Feinherb, Kabinett and Spatlese, while off dry, they are acid driven and well rounded with decades of life ahead of them.
($N/A 30-50 Est.) 94 Points, grapelive
