Selbach’s 2008 Zeltinger Himmelreich Riesling Kabinett halbtrocken
demonstrates – as I would have expected – that it is a superb vintage
(almost certainly the best yet) for this perennial outstanding value
bottling, as well as one in which it tastes entirely dry. Effusively
aromatic herbs, orange and apple blossoms, rowan, citrus zests,
cardamom, green tea, and white peach all find their counterparts
deployed on a dynamic, refreshing, texturally satiny palate. This
finishes with vivid yet by no means excessively adamant stoniness,
persistently wafting florality, deep nut oil richness, and invigorating
zest. It will prove delightfully versatile and kaleidoscopically complex
over the next decade. These vines are 30 years old now, and as Selbach
puts it, both literally and figuratively “really displaying their
depth.” There are thankfully nearly 1,000 cases.
Johannes Selbach
responded to the high energy and acidity of the 2008 vintage by giving
most of the wines extra fine-lees contact and later-than-usual bottling.
As a champion of (in his words) “genuine Kabinett” and “drinking wine,
not trophy wine” and a resister against the encroachment of high must
weights and residual sugar to which the weather in most recent vintages
has left even him susceptible, Selbach was predictably overjoyed both
with the refreshment, delicacy, and infectious drinkability made
possible by vintage 2008, and with its preponderance of Kabinett and
Spatlese. Several single-parcel, block-picked (i.e. the whole crop at
once), vineyard-designated wines were essayed (that from the Anrecht –
within Zeltinger Himmelreich – being new this year) although at Spatlese
rather than, as usually in the past, Auslese Pradikat level. In fact,
it remains Selbach’s intention to very soon remove the already
small-print reference to Pradikat from these special bottlings, whose
focus is intended to be entirely on reflecting terroir and vintage.
(Ironically, though, the reference to the sites themselves remain in
very small print, because the authorities are testy about the use of
geographical designations other than those of the official Einzellagen
singled-out – or, to put it more appropriately, assembled – in 1971.) - 92 points by Wine Advocate
