German Catalog 2006 USE THIS ONE.qxp - Michael Skurnik Wines

selbach-oster
mosel • zeltingen
We tasted on a (rare) bright early Spring day, and when we were done Karen Odessa and I took
a walk in the sunlight. We visited Hans Selbach’s grave, where all the flowers had been nibbled
by some critter or other, probably wild boar, which Hans liked to hunt. “Yes, the boar like to visit
him too, and eat the flowers,” said his wife Sigrid. “I’m sure he’s down there chuckling at them
whenever they come.”
Four years ago I remember Hans-Günter Schwarz seeing to the harvest of his supernal 2001s
while his wife lay in the final stages of terminal cancer. This year I enjoy contemplating the vision
of the Selbach family luxuriating in the most clement harvest they have ever known, day after
day of perfect weather, while Hans’ angel looks on.
It wasn’t an easy year for them. Not only did they
lose their beloved patriarche, they also lost the work he
did (and made look effortless), and they dealt with an
audit of Hans’ estate (routine but time-draining), but
come harvest time it was as if some providence thought
to itself “These poor souls have suffered enough for
awhile; I’ll just square the weather away so they can
have an easy vintage.” I like to think Hans called in his
single favor from the angels — it would be like him to
want to alleviate the difficulties of others.
It is Johannes’ first vintage without Hans. Yet in that
curious way the dead abide with us, Hans’ presence
imbues everything. It is probably the greatest vintage in
the winery’s history, and it’s melancholy to think Hans
wasn’t among us to taste it. But, we can tell him of it.
2005 is a fabulous Mosel vintage in general. Great
wines were everywhere. Many of my growers had
among the greatest
vintages
they’ve ever had.
Yet even so, the
2005 Selbach-
Oster vintage
stands out, even
from 2005’s exalted
norm. I’ll try
and say why.
Most if not
all of the `05
Mosels are outsized,
with many
times their usual
density and more
layers of intricacy
than ever. This is
done without
Barbara & Johannes Selbach
altering their
basic shape, without
obtruding on their slatey ornery essence, and without
coating their bones with ripe-sauce. Selbach’s wines
are no different. Yet there is a quality of serenity about
•Vineyard area: 17 hectares
•Annual production: 9,500 cases
•Top sites: Zeltinger Sonnenuhr, Wehlener
Sonnenuhr, Graacher Domprobst
•Soil types: Stony slate, partly with loam
•Grape varieties: 98.5% Riesling,
1.5% Weissburgunder
them that is nearly beatific. They taste as if they’d been
gathered by angels. They have a lovely gloss and glow.
They are full of muscle but also a skater’s grace. They seem
to be infinitely strong without ever becoming powerful.
And there are so many of them. I can’t think of a single
wine I “rejected” among the nearly four dozen I tasted.
Johannes, who is always antsy and uncertain during
these showings, could barely contain his glee. I was the
first person to whom the entire range was shown, and I
wish you could have been there: my old friend Jo and I
couldn’t stop looking at each other, mouths agape, just in
batshit-crazy bliss as one insane masterpiece followed
another. When I got to the Schlossberg Auslese 2-star I
thought I’d wrung out all the emotion of which I was
capable — there were already several wines of sublime
beauty — and I will never forget, as I stood there tasting
that wine, how it seemed to put its gentle hands on my
chest and push me down into the chair, and how I just sat
there looking utterly stunned at Johannes and said
“Dude; what is this?” and he returned my deranged gaze
with one of his own and said “I know, can you believe
it?” almost as if the wine weren’t his at all.
You’ll see it in my notes, how by the end of the tasting
I’d gotten to that strange wan place where you’ve
numbed the rapture-terminals and you don’t “feel” any
more. I felt as if I’d been abducted by some alien race
who knew arcane forms of beauty and pleasure. They
dropped me off when they were done with me and all I
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MOSEL WINES