2023 Riesling Zeltinger Sonnenuhr Kabinett

The Selbach wines are once again a beacon of clarity. The dry wines are paradigms of elegant understatement, superbly clean and soaring with aroma, while the off-dry and sweet wines are marvels of balance. This is a real achievement in 2023, as Johannes Selbach does not hold back: “It was a hell of a vintage, a rollercoaster, but it had a happy ending. It was extremely challenging. The first half of the vegetative period, we had heat and dry stress, then the weather turned in July and the rain came. Combined with heat, this meant that everything caught up quickly. The grapes swelled and were tight on the bunch, squeezing each other. Fruit flies came, and rot set in. I have never seen such a challenging harvest. We selected until it hurt.” Selbach explains that his experienced team of harvesters, the same people who return year after year, can tell good from bad botrytis, but this year put everyone to the test. “Had the harvest not finished, there would have been mutiny. The more the harvest advanced, the more we had to discard,” he remembers. Selbach estimates that on average, he lost 25% of his yield, with relatively little in the beginning and big losses towards the end. The Selbachs also produce the Merkelbach wines in their time-honored style. In 2023, the Merkelbach wines are old-school but shine with their light touch and ease—however, quantities are tiny.