2015 Riesling Zeltinger Sonnenuhr Auslese**

Johannes Selbach reported having experienced “absolutely no stress” during the 2015 harvest, and after a late September “pre-harvest” thinning and culling of Riesling across much of his 52 acres, he settled down to serious and methodical picking beginning on September 29. Despite the lack of pressure, he was finished picking in four weeks, there having been virtually no days meteorologically unsuited for the purpose. Musts were almost universally healthy and spontaneous fermentations unproblematic. In an extension of Selbach’s long-standing determination to dial back residual sugar so as to achieve what he calls “genuine Kabinett” and “drinking Auslese” – and also in response to an emerging demand in Germany for such wines – he elected, to an even greater extent than in 2014, to finish a number of non-trocken 2015s with significantly lower residual sugar than prevailed in years past and to label them feinherb. (Interestingly, though, the estate’s long-standing Zeltinger Himmelreich Kabinett halbtrocken remains this estate’s sole wine either labeled with or qualifying for that taste descriptor.) “Just at the end,” related Selbach, “we got some genuinely noble botrytis, though not much.” It sufficed for quite a few Auslesen as well as one TBA (from the Zeltinger Sonnenuhr) that was accidentally oversold and of which Selbach could consequently not open a bottle for me. Bottling was staggered over an extended period, with the first residually sweet Kabinetts being filled in late February, a preponderance of wines of all sorts going to bottle in April and May, but selected lots remaining in barrel or tank into summer. (And one lot of Zeltinger Sonnenuhr Spätlese trocken still fermenting when I visited to taste in September 2016.)

For an extended account of this estate’s recent history, its top sites, and the evolution of its viticultural and cellar methodology, consult the introduction to my account of their vintage 2014 collection. But one technicality is worth repeating: the trio of site-specific wines from prime locations in Zeltinger Himmelreich (“Anrecht”), Schlossberg (“Schmitt”) and Sonnenuhr (“Rotlay”) that the Selbachs pick en bloc, i.e., all at one time and without selection, are technically Auslesen and labeled as such in small print, although you will often see those wines described without attribution of Prädikat and the Selbachs themselves prefer not to think “Auslesen,” since that very word means “to select,” which is precisely what is not done in these three instances. But utilizing the term “Auslese” does prepare consumers who might otherwise be perplexed for the richness and unabashed sweetness of the wines in question, and perhaps also for their justifiably relatively high prices.

Johannes Selbach reported having experienced “absolutely no stress” during the 2015 harvest, and after a late September “pre-harvest” thinning and culling of Riesling across much of his 52 acres, he settled down to serious and methodical picking beginning on September 29. Despite the lack of pressure, he was finished picking in four weeks, there having been virtually no days meteorologically unsuited for the purpose. Musts were almost universally healthy and spontaneous fermentations unproblematic. In an extension of Selbach’s long-standing determination to dial back residual sugar so as to achieve what he calls “genuine Kabinett” and “drinking Auslese” – and also in response to an emerging demand in Germany for such wines – he elected, to an even greater extent than in 2014, to finish a number of non-trocken 2015s with significantly lower residual sugar than prevailed in years past and to label them feinherb. (Interestingly, though, the estate’s long-standing Zeltinger Himmelreich Kabinett halbtrocken remains this estate’s sole wine either labeled with or qualifying for that taste descriptor.) “Just at the end,” related Selbach, “we got some genuinely noble botrytis, though not much.” It sufficed for quite a few Auslesen as well as one TBA (from the Zeltinger Sonnenuhr) that was accidentally oversold and of which Selbach could consequently not open a bottle for me. Bottling was staggered over an extended period, with the first residually sweet Kabinetts being filled in late February, a preponderance of wines of all sorts going to bottle in April and May, but selected lots remaining in barrel or tank into summer. (And one lot of Zeltinger Sonnenuhr Spätlese trocken still fermenting when I visited to taste in September 2016.)

For an extended account of this estate’s recent history, its top sites, and the evolution of its viticultural and cellar methodology, consult the introduction to my account of their vintage 2014 collection. But one technicality is worth repeating: the trio of site-specific wines from prime locations in Zeltinger Himmelreich (“Anrecht”), Schlossberg (“Schmitt”) and Sonnenuhr (“Rotlay”) that the Selbachs pick en bloc, i.e., all at one time and without selection, are technically Auslesen and labeled as such in small print, although you will often see those wines described without attribution of Prädikat and the Selbachs themselves prefer not to think “Auslesen,” since that very word means “to select,” which is precisely what is not done in these three instances. But utilizing the term “Auslese” does prepare consumers who might otherwise be perplexed for the richness and unabashed sweetness of the wines in question, and perhaps also for their justifiably relatively high prices.