2009 Bernkasteler Badstube Eiswein

The 2009 Bernkasteler Badstube Riesling Eiswein Samstag A.P. #47 (the word “Samstag” on whose label will designate the deeply-frosted second of two December days on which the Selbachs harvested in this site) had recently been sulfured and filtered for bottling when I tasted it in September. Almost smarting in its smoky pungency of black tea, fresh ginger, and lemon rind as well as penetrating with high tones of holly berry and kirsch distillates, this combines almost tooth-jarring acidity with near-gelatinous viscosity. Apple jelly, caramel, honey, fresh lemon juice, and pit fruit distillates, constitute oscillating layers that persist in a finish almost more eye- than mouth-watering. Given the condition in which I tasted this, my score needs to be taken as extremely conservative. And this bids fair to be one of those Eiswein that might well merit following for a couple of decades. “The autumn was super, with little stress,” remarked Johannes Selbach, who is more often seen furrowing his exceedingly high brow when describing even a highly successful harvest! What there was of botrytis, he reports, came late, and he reported that what rain there was in November was of negligible significance. Where many 2009 collections disappointed slightly as they reached the limits of possible vintage Oechsle, the Selbach-Oster collection proceeded from strength to profound strength. Most of the wines were bottled in May, but some of the dry and nobly sweet lots were very late even to finish fermenting and a few had not yet been bottled even when I tasted in September. True to an intention he stated last year, Selbach has bottled without Pradikat the fruits of block-pickings from his three top parcels, each named on its label. (For more about the principles involved, consult in particular my note on the 2005 “Schmitt” Auslese – in issue 169 – and that on this year’s dry “Schmitt” Spatlese below.) This year’s collection continues the trend for wines from Zeltingen’s Schlossberg to shine with special complexity and elegance after the many years in which they seemed destined at this address to take a back seat to those of Sonnenuhr. Not only were the vineyards of Zeltingen among the most celebrated on the Mosel during the 19th and early 20th century, but Karl Heinrich Koch epochal survey of 1881 places the Schlossberg as among the Mosel, Saar, and Ruwer’s top 11 sites, and one can appreciate this while savoring a wine like this year’s “Schmitt” trocken. Importers: 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