2022 Weingut Selbach-Oster, Pinot Blanc Trocken, Mosel, Germany.
Again the Pinot Blanc by Selbach-Oster is a smash hit, this is an excellent alternative white wine and great example of the varietal in Germany with vivid flavors, smoky/slatey Mosel character and a nice intensity, not usually found in this grape. The flinty nose, has a honeyed lemon, wet stone and green apple notes, with a steely medium bodied palate showing off white peach, lemon/lime, tart apple and a hint of tropical fruit, along with fresh acidity, a bit of spice, bitter herbs and the mentioned mineral tones. I’ve been following this wine since the 2013 vintage and while I usually focus on the gorgeous and studied collection of Riesling at Selbach-Oster, but I highly recommend checking out this Pinot Blanc, sometimes called Weissburgunder. Johannes Selbach has told me that this German Pinot Blanc comes off three plots in three Cru sites, but almost entirely from Zeltinger Himmelreich, set on classic blue Devonian slate and sees a natural yeast fermentation and is aged exclusively in stainless steel tank. This Summer I was lucky enough to taste through the Selbach-Oster lineup with Johannes Selbach himself, along with his son Sebastian, who’s taken on a much bigger role here in the last few years with some equally big successes, and they’ve produced some fantastic wines, like this Pinot Blanc.
Johannes Selbach, as mentioned here at grapelive.com before, like Dr. Loosen, is one of Germany’s best known winemakers of his generation, and son Sebastian are raising the game here at Selbach-Oster, with an amazing collection of offerings from the 2022 and 2023 vintages. The winery, which dates back here in the Mosel since the 1600s, is looking forward and backwards, paying tribute to generations of Selbachs and their traditions as well as embracing the future with all of its uncertainties with confidence and intensity of their work. A very significant portion of their vines are on their original rootstocks and are ungrafted, including the stunning set of parcels in Zeltinger, their home town, like those that go into this masterpiece. I’m a huge and long time fan of these wines from Himmelreich, Schlossberg and Sonnenuhr, all set on blue Devonian slate, again, where this wine comes from. Selbach’s holdings of Schlossberg, Sonnenuhr, Wehlener Sonnenuhr, Graacher and Bernkasteler Graben are ultra steep sites that showcase their slate driven terroirs to perfection and sit on contiguous slope facing south-south west and without question are some of the most prestigious sites in the Mosel. The winery notes that 85% of the Selbach’s vines are on steep slopes, which helps give their collection of Rieslings an extra boost of intensity and distinction. The Selbach wines, which I highly recommend, have always been crafted to be generous and full of pleasure, highlighting the quality of the fruit and the expressive terroirs.
($23 Est.) 92 Points, grapelive