Exclusive offer: 11/4/2022 – Selbach-Oster (OMG)

This offer is available from Friday, November 4th at 3:00 pm to Sunday, November 6th at 3:00 pm, or as supplies last. First come, first served on all wines.

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Hi everyone –

We have two VERY special offers for you this week and next.

They are perfectly timed for Thanksgiving. They are two of my favorite German producers (going back for me to 1997, my first year that I worked at Surdyk’s, who back in the day had exclusivity on these wines). These wines are SUPER LIMITED, under two cases of each, and only available this year in Minnesota through this offer via Solo Vino. Nobody but Solo Vino got these wines.

This week: Selbach-Oster.

Next week: Meuller-Catoir.

Let’s get to it!

(Many thanks to Joel Nelson and Doug Weber of local importer The Wine Company for helping to compile these tasting notes. We tasted through all the wines a number of months ago, but Joel and Doug were good enough to share their tasting notes with me.)

The magic of Selbach-Oster

The Selbach family’s heritage in the wine business dates to 1600. Today, Johannes Selbach with the help of son Sebastian, manage their vineyards and winery with passion and respect for the estate’s long held traditions. A substantial portion their 24 hectares of vines are on their original rootstocks- quite a rare claim! Their slate soil vineyards are on a steep, contiguous slope facing south, south-west and on some of the most prestigious sites in all of the Mosel. 

Johannes, like his late father Hans, has continued the use of traditional 1000 L oak barrels (fuders) in his cellar, bringing in new large casks every few years. His focus remains on meticulous work in the vineyard (organic and sustainable farming) with the aim to cultivate and bring home perfect fruit. And I must add, that when I had the opportunity to meet and taste with Sebastian earlier this year, he was a delight! A compelling and ardent ambassador for his wines and for the organic farming methods he practices, Sebastian is a consummate gentleman at that! (Loved his story of swimming in his cellar during last summer’s floods to save his barrels of Riesling!)

Check out the beautiful and steep vineyards in the video below! And if you watch the whole thing you’re going to learn far more than you expect. A great little video.

Selbach-Oster Pinot Brut Sekt 2017

YES- bubbly is in the mix. Super rare! Sekt is the term for wines made in the champagne method when produced in Germany. This bottle contains a combination of grapes rarely seen- Pinot Blanc, Pinot Noir and Pinot Meunier! Aged on the lees for 2 years before disgorgement, this wine shows with red delicious apple and haystack on the nose… finishing with medium length and some flavors of pastries. Drink now. Or wait until the holidays, when this wine will pair ideally with traditional American Thanksgiving fare. This might be the rarest sparkling wine available in Minnesota today!

Selbach-Oster Pinot Blanc 2019

You are not alone in thinking that you have rarely, if ever, encountered a Pinot Blanc from the Mosel. This wine is produced in very small quantities and boasts a pretty typical aromatic profile. The 2020 vintage allowed for perfect ripening and thus translating to some major primary fruit characteristics… this wine is not subtle. I smelled ripe golden delicious apples and buckwheat honey and a savory Anjou pear flavor lingered on the palate. FANTASTIC STUFF. Drink now. Drink with an Alsatian tart of mushrooms and gruyere.

Selbach-Oster Riesling Trocken 2019

If there is one wine in the lineup that is textbook Selbach, this is it. Dry styles are in fashion in Germany, and this produces all the complex aromatics I look for in great dry Riesling. We can still detect a little of that telltale petrol aromatic, but it is largely overtaken by the scent of wet slate and meyer lemons. Drink this wine now, or hold for up to 5 years. Enjoy with a fish stew, such as Bouillabaisse or Cioppino.

Selbach-Oster Riesling Feinherb 2020

The important thing to note here is that word “Feinherb” on the label. Truly a designation I love the very most among German wines- implying just the gentlest hint of sweetness, while edgy acidity dominates. I smelled things like sweet herbs and found my mouth watering with lemon curd on the palate for many minutes after swallowing. Drink now or hold for up to 5 years. Drink this on its own…. Or drink it alongside a moderately spicy Thai dish- something like Pad Kee Mao.

Selbach-Oster Riesling Kabinett 2020

This wine may very well represent the most typicity in flavor profile of the entire array. Defined by playful sweetness and a waxy texture, this wine is ideally consumed now. Like today. Pop it open. If you feel fancy, drink it with a Hamachi crudo topped with a sliver of fresno chile and crispy garlic.

This stuff is super drinky and absolutely pitch-perfect. Great with roasted turkey with a side of mashed potatoes with gravy. Hmmmmmm….

Selbach-Oster Riesling Spatlese 2020

This wine is comprised of shriveled grapes and a ton of time and labor to make it. Yes, some of these grapes are literally raisins on the vine when harvested, yielding super highly concentrated drips of golden nectar which make great wine, just not very much volume. Thus the elevated cost. This wine is the result of careful hand-harvesting and sorting, allowing the golden richness of fall harvested Riesling clusters to show their brilliance. Pure candy. Drink now or hold for up to 30 years. Drink this with Brie en croute drizzled with a spiced lingonberry coulis. I did. It’s amazing.

Buying advice

These are some of the best wines made not only in Germany, but in the whole world. If you’re looking for purity of expression, absolutely transparent and terroir-driven wines, these are for you.

For an “Intro to Selbach” the Riesling Troken and the Riesling Feinherb are your best bets.

For “rare and special” the Sparkling and Pinot Blanc are for you.

For rock-solid Riesling of epic quality, the Riesling Kabinett is your go-to.

And for cellaring for decades, savoring and sipping on a very special occasion, the Spatlese is untouchable.

There is so little of this wine available, and this is the only chance to grab any Selbach-Oster in Minnesota in 2022.

And ALL of the wines would be perfect with Thanksgiving dinner!

Thank you, everyone! We couldn’t do this without you!

Jason Kallsen
Sommelier and founder/owner of Twin Cities Wine Education

NEW! Your payment to Solo Vino for the Friday offer is contained on the order form. No more back-and-forth emailed invoices and payments. Yay!!