by Patchen Markell » Sun May 07, 2017 4:15 pm
Cracked our first 2015 Mosel Riesling the other night: a Selbach-Oster 2015 Riesling Kabinett, Zeltinger Schlossberg. $21. Very nice: lemon blossom and lightly baked apple, with a darker, redder fruit component behind it, and even a suggestion of baking spice; that may all sound rich, but this was actually appropriately light and crisp, lightly sweet and with the various components in good balance. This was a singlet purchased by accident (it had been in the Spätlese bin) but I think I'll grab some more. If this gives me any idea of the character of the vintage, I like it.
Château des Rontets 2015 Pouilly-Fuissé "Una Tantum," apparently made separately from juice from late in the press run; this was a bottle in a sampler, not something I chose, and I'd unchoose it if I could. It shows its alcohol (14.5%) both in texture and, a little, in heat; it leans tropical while maintaining some minerality but overlays that with just enough wood (the tech sheet says "used" barrels but I'd guess they're just a year old, clearly not neutral) to distract, though it's not super-vanilla-y or toasty. Andrea liked this better than I did.
Domaine de la Pepière 2004 Muscadet Sèvre et Main. Not the Clos des Briords, just the basic bottling, closed with a short plastic cork. Time to drink this up, if you have any more (I think this was my last). It's not oxidized, just tired, lacking verve, and without any of the play between salty freshness and bottle age that my previous bottle had.
cheers, Patchen