Does this sound a little like a bad country and western song? I can hear a tune in the back of my mind, a wailing tenor, acoustic guitar, maybe a harmonica. “Riesling, I want to love you. Oh, Riesling, my baaay-bee, why won’t you love me?” Or something like that.
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I want to love Riesling, I truly do. I know that it ranks among the world’s greatest wine grapes. I have friends with acute palates who love Riesling so much that they include it in their email names. I am not kidding about this.
As I’ve written before, I get all the reasons why Riesling is beloved. It makes wines of rare clarity, transparency, minerality; wines that drink well young and age into things of beauty; wines that, more than almost any other, carry a sense of place, that elusive “terroir,” that reflects the nature of the soil in which they grew. Rieslings boast an ancient heritage, back to Charlemagne and beyond. They are among the world’s most food-friendly wines.
I know all this. I swear I do! But Rieslings never quite do it for me. Maybe it’s that they’re so aromatic. That sounds like a good thing, but to my taste buds they ramp it up too much, like a television that’s had its color and brightness kicked up a notch, or background music in a nice restaurant that’s tuned just a bit too loud. I compare them to the traditional wine styles of Italy and France (and their New World counterparts) that I grew up loving, and Riesling just seems like the odd person out. Good, sure, but different from my heart’s true passion.
But I keep trying. I won’t give up. Inspired recently by a fascinating interview with Terry Theise, one of the world’s most ardent Riesling advocates, I committed myself to try again.
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Riesling, I wish I could love you
(Continued)
Just to stack the odds in my favor, I went hunting for a Riesling from Terry Theise’s portfolio; and to make the deal even more enticing, I found one by a producer, Johannes Selbach of J & H Selbach, who according to the importer is “Terry Theise’s man-on-the-ground in Germany.”
Johannes Selbach
Herr Selbach, writing on the importer’s page, said things that really resonated with me, too: “You may have noticed our wines are a bit drier the last two vintages than they used to be. We know how to make reductive fruit-bombs that get high scores and stand out in big tastings, but the problem is everyone writes about those wines but nobody drinks them. We want to make wines for food, that people can use in their everyday lives.”
Everything about it looked right, except possibly my somewhat spendy local price, $22, a full five bucks above Wine-Searcher.com’s $17 national median for this wine; but even that didn’t leave too bad a taste in my mouth.
How could I go wrong?
Indeed, I’ll rate J & H Selbach 2014 Riesling Spätlese among the most enjoyable Rieslings I’ve tried, ever. A Pradikätswein from the Saar Valley, a tributary of the Mosel, it came from prime Riesling ground, and it displayed much of the character that drives Riesling-lovers’ passion: Clear, fresh, aromatic, delicious, with aromas and flavors shifting from apples and pears to tangerines and grapefruit. Light, fresh-fruit sweetness but not enough to cloy, held in place with steely acidity, and whispering in the background, lovely “stony” minerality.
I’d definitely drink more. But I’m still trying to sense whether it touches my heart with the same depth of love that surrounds a Brunello, say, or a Chateauneuf-du-Pape.
We’ll see. I’ll definitely try again, and you should too. You’ll find my detailed tasting report below.
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Today’s Tasting Reports
J & H Selbach 2014 Saar Riesling Spätlese ($21.99)
This pretty Saar Riesling shows a clear straw color in the glass, with a slight brassy-green hue. Appealing scents of mixed white fruits show apples and pears at first, then open up to something more citrusy, juicy grapefruit and a distinct note of something bright like tangerine. Flavors carry over to the palate, fresh, gently sweet fruit nicely balanced by steely acidity, with a subtle, intriguing “rainwater over rocks” minerality lurking shyly in the background. Light and refreshing at a low 9% alcohol. U.S. importer: Michael Skurnik Wines, NYC; A Terry Theise Estate Selection (Feb. 16, 2016).
FOOD MATCH: Riesling is one of the most food-friendly wines, serving as flexibly among white wines as Pinot Noir does with reds. It’s a wine of choice with freshwater fish, a variety of chicken, veal or pork dishes, and cheese. We enjoyed it with a plate of mixed cheeses, Cheddar and Parmigiano-Reggiano, sliced and also toasted on grilled artisan baguettes.
WHEN TO DRINK: Riesling is also one of the most ageworthy whites, and, assuming good cellar conditions, even a modest Spätlese should hold up and improve over at least five years or more. Still, it’s drinking nicely now, so there’s no need to wait.
VALUE: Wine-Searcher.com reports an average $17 U.S. retail price for this appealing Spätlese, with some vendors offering it at $15, so my local price almost reads like an error. It’s good, but price variation like this strongly suggests shopping for the better buy.
WEB LINK
This page from importer Michael Skurnik provides basic information about the Saar Riesling Spätlese. For information about the winery and its producer, Johannes Selbach, head for this importer page.
FIND THIS WINE ONLINE:
Find sources and compare prices for J & H Selbach Saar Riesling Spätlese on Wine-Searcher.com.
For more information about the Mosel and its wines, including an exhaustive list of representative wines and their vendors, check this page on Wine-Searcher.com.
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