2017 Riesling Alte Reben

After having lost half of his 2016 crop to peronospora – a drastic outcome even by the standards of that troublesomely wet vintage – Christian Ebert turned around and experienced in 2017 the smallest crop in his 30-year tenure running Schloss Saarstein. The principal culprit was not frost but rather the stringent selection necessary to cull ignoble botrytis. The clarity and brightness of the very best wines in this collection testify to success in that endeavor, though some bottlings exhibit hints – albeit not entirely unpleasant ones – of fungus. Ebert was well aware of the risk in postponing Riesling harvest well into October, but he felt it was necessary in order to achieve ripe flavors. His 2017s do indeed taste ripe across the board, yet no fewer than three Kabinetts – trocken nearly dry feinherb, and subtly sweet – are all successful and genuinely buoyant. From this year’s collection, I missed out on tasting the Auxerrois as well as a Riesling Beerenauslese of which there were a mere 200 liters. (For more about this estate, its recent evolution and its labeling practices – which do invite some explanation – consult especially the introductions to my reports on their 2014 and 2015 collections.)