2015 Riesling Serriger Schloss Saarsteiner Auslese

Christian Ebert has turned out a generally quite fine 2015 collection, in which I am especially happy to see him continuing to offer residually sweet bottlings that are only discreetly and supportively so – wines which he now labels feinherb, a term he says has definitely helped sell many of his countrymen on the notion that it’s okay to enjoy a non-trocken Riesling. In ex-cellar terms, the legally dry and virtually dry Schloss Saarstein Rieslings represent superb values, so it’s unfortunate that one seldom sees that major share of the estate’s portfolio offered in the US. (For more about this estate and its recent evolution, consult the introduction to my report on their 2014 collection. As explained in detail there, in order to conform to VDP protocols, only selected wines are labeled as Serriger Schloss Saarsteiner, but all of Ebert’s wines, with the exception of his generic A.P. #4 and Riesling feinherb, originate entirely within that monopole Einzellage.)