2010 Zeltinger Sonnenuhr Auslese (1 Star)

Honeysuckle, lily and heliotrope; apple and white peach essences ravishingly scent the Selbach-Oster “one-star” 2010 Zeltinger Sonnenuhr Riesling Auslese*, then reconvene on a creamily-textured yet insistently juicy palate that conveys an irresistible sense of tenderness, delicacy, caress, yet at the same time vibrancy. The savor of browned butter, salt, and deep nut oils here are like catnip to the salivary glands. This glorious epitome of its great site finishes with extraordinary, multi-layered, and in the end almost ethereal persistence. The berries here were still largely green-gold, freckled, but only delicately (“perhaps 20-25%”) botrytized, relates Johannes Selbach, and this seems to me entirely recognizable in the glass. I would hope to follow and be spoiled by some of the 2,000 liters of this for the next quarter century. “From the look of the grapes in early October,” relates Johannes Selbach, “it seemed we would have green, hard-edged wines this year. But the saving grace” – that three-word description spoken in English, incidentally – “was that if you waited, the weather cooperated just long enough, and eventually real ripeness and interesting aromas developed. At that point, we picked in a hurry, finishing in early November.” Reacting to the high-acid nature of 2010 material – much of it double-salt de-acidified as must – Selbach finished nearly all of his wines with significant residual sugar, and it was literally half by accident that any of these ended up with a profile that could be called “Kabinett.” Otherwise, this is a vintage dominated by sweet Spatlese and Auslese to an extent that in its relative stylistic homogeneity compels me to recollect my earliest experiences with this estate and the dominance in certain mid-’1980s vintages of off-dry Kabinett and Q.b.A.! The high ripeness and botrytized complexity that characterize this collection is reflected in the fact that the estate’s three by now familiar and no longer Pradikat-designated, block-picked parcel bottlings were served me after I had tasted the wines labeled “Auslese,” and there was not the least awkwardness to the transition (although for now this vintage looks to have rewarded selection at least marginally over block picking). “The two most unusual botrytis vintages of my career,” remarks Selbach, “have been 2006 and now 2010. But whereas the 2006s were opulent, 2010 delivered sleek, thoroughbred racehorses built for the long haul.” Hang on for a quite possibly wild ride, then, because as impressive as these wines are, just as Selbach intimated, they are highly unusual and their future track record correspondingly inscrutable. If 2009 was clearly a year for Schlossberg to shine, 2010 is a year of more predictable favoritism toward Zeltinger Sonnenuhr. Importers: There are a few regional importers of certain Selbach wines, but the majority (and those whose prices are noted above) are Terry Theise Estate Selections, imported by Michael Skurnik Wines, Inc., Syosset, NY; tel. (516) 677-9300