The Wines of This Week's Tasting:
New German and Austrian Releases
February 5, 2025
White
2022 Selbach 'Incline' Riesling
An all-around mostly dry Riesling at a great price
Much better than its price, you can sip this by itself, or with a wide variety of fish, fowl, or vegetable dishes.
Aroma: Nicely dry, rounded firm, brother broad; Mouth: dry, light intense clean, bright acid, firm, some tightness on the finish; Very Good $15.99; Case, $12.99
2020 Fio Wein 'Ratzelhaft' Riesling Dry
Some like Natural and don't like sulfur
Can you make good natural wine in the Mosel? Yes, but a bit different.
Riesling, grown on clay-slate soils, fermented in large barrels and stainless steel, matured up to a year on the lees. No added sulfur. Complex, with intense minerality. Fresh citrus aromas and nuances of stone fruits and nuts. Lively and playful, yet elegant, with hints of smoke and salt on the finish.
Aroma: Heady, light, full, spicy, and intense; Fresh, fresh, intense; Mouth: Clean. Light gray-green, sweet, intense full, fat, bright pure; Very Good Plus $19.99; Case, $16.99
2022 Selbach-Oster Pinot Blanc
Germany's coming white grape
From the Selbach estate, this is another entry into making white wines a la burgundy but with a German accent. Good acid, rich fruit, it wears its minerality lightly
Aroma: Heady, relatively rich and fruity, herbal, firm; Mouth: Clean, dry firm, a touch of flint, clean, Long rounded; Very Good Plus $21, clean finish, it wears its acid lightlly $21 Case, $17.99
2022 Nikolaihof Zwickl Wachau Gruner Veltliner
What other gruners want to be
Classic Gruner from a top producer in a top Austrian region
Aroma: Rounded spicy, full, fat, with a lean back fullish; Mouth: Bright, intense full, fat, rather rich spicy and full again; Very Good - Excellent $33; Case, $27.99
2020 Ziereisen Viviser Gutedel
“Make Gutedal Great Again.”
Baden bad boy iconoclast Hanspeter Ziereisen has made his mission to do just that with this 'lesser' grape, aka Chasselas and Fendant. Contrary to the feel of the phrase here, he has gotten results. Like past vintages, this is dry and full in the mouth, with a unique nutty quality. It recalls a mature traditional white Bordeaux with perhaps a Gruner Veltliner herbal note. Its salinity is subtle, as much mineral as salt. It is a terrific wine. If given some air before serving, it is fit for rich fish or white meat dishes
In 2022 the Wine Advocate's Stephen Rheinhardt called this "another excellent Chasselas from the Ziereisen family."
"The nose is deep, intense, pure, spicy/stony and even reminiscent of fresh green olive oil but also iodine notes of crushed limestones. Round, intense and elegant on the palate, this is a saline, fresh, seriously structured and persistent Chasselas with vibrant mineral grip and tension and a refreshingly pure finish that still doesn't offer anything for hedonists. Just 11% alcohol. "
Since it will have integrated and show a hedonic, albeit Teutonic, quality. Excellent
$35, Case 29.99
2023 Donnhoff Estate Riesling Trocken
From the noted estate in Germany's Nahe
It has the concentration and spice of Donnhoff's more expensive wines,
Aroma: Very heady, very rich, lots of slate; Mouth: Clean, dry spicy, rather broad, with good acid, bright dans, firm, long; Very Good Plus $26.99; Case, $22.95
2023 Selbach-Oster Zeltinger Himmelreich Riesling Kabinett Halbtrocken
Zingy and forward
Aroma: Heady, very intense fullish braid mineral, intense, soft, bright; Mouth: clean, rather rich, intense, soft, delicately constructed, light, firm acidity, burnished; Very Good Plus $25.99; Case, $21.99
2019 Nikolaihof vom Stein Smaragd Wachau Riesling
Mature Riesling, soft and deep
Taste this Austrian to understand the complexity fine Riesling can attain at maturity. A just the right wine.
Aroma: Soft heady, and rich, mineral, relatively broad, heady; Mouth: Clean, intense very broad, rich acid, piquant, long; Excellent $46; Case, $39
Mix any twelve or more wines at their case prices
In stock, some in quantities
Len Rothenberg
Order by phone at 617.367.8605, or reserve here: order@federalwine.com
Please pass this on to any friends who are wine enthusiasts!
- Len Rothenberg
FREE DELIVERY!
downtown on orders more than $75;
in Greater Boston on orders more than $199
