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The October 2020 Auction: Part 5

Auction # 630 | View Auction Schedule and Details
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Auction Ends: 10/29/2020 6:00:00 PM PDT

Lot #339. Selbach-Oster Bernkasteler Badstube Riesling Spätlese * #32 2005

Description: Consists of 1 Bottle, 0.75L
Region: Germany, Mosel, Bernkastel.
Score: 95 WA.
"A “one star” 2005 Bernkasteler Badstube Riesling Spatlese* was essayed this year, from Selbach's oldest Bernkastel vines, in the Graben vineyard and offers incredible value . (“Badstube” is a collective vineyard name, but one of the few that continues to be used by top-notch growers, since its component sites are all excellent but their individual names largely little-known.) A huge aromatic display of black cherry preserves and grapefruit marmalade leads to a luscious, expansive palate, firm and bright rather than plush, dynamic rather than statuesque, combining liqueur-macerated cherries, fresh apple, vividly juicy citrus, cinnamon, honey, and vanilla. The finish here overruns the palate with a (well-organized) riot of ripe fruit. This is not your wafting, delicate, levitating 2005, but rather a dense essence of Badstube Riesling that radiates energy, resulting in a choreographic concatenation – and detonation – of flavors on the palate. 'For me, 2005 is a singular vintage in my career,' says Johannes Selbach, 'in that it is ripe, multi-faceted, and has excellent acidity. You can pick any of the other recent classics – 1975, 1990 ... . Each of the benchmark years is great in its way, however here you have a combination that is fun to drink now, ten years from now, and in thirty years as well. It remains to be seen, but I think 2005 is in another league.' Readers will indeed be hard pressed this year to find another address with this many consistently outstanding wines, and when has there ever been a more diverse and at the same time magnificent array of Auslesen? In their upper reaches, the Selbach 2005s seem – like Zilliken's, but in their own unique way – to chart a trajectory beyond the normal course for their vintage. The harvest here extended from mid-October to mid-November." Wine Advocate #169, Feb 2007
Lot Location: Orange County
Estimate: $70

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