2017 Selbach-Oster Zeltinger Schlossberg Riesling Auslese Schmitt
Estimated value
Buying options
Tasting notes
The mere 7% alcohol indicated on this wine’s label – astonishingly low for an Auslese – holds at least one clue to the wafting, near-ethereal but intensely botrytis-influenced character on exhibit. Quince jelly, caramel apple and marzipan inform the heady nose and the opulent, glycerol-slicked palate. And yet, true to its nature as a product of block-picking, this bottling also exhibits a juicy fresh fruit aspect. Salinity serves for mouthwatering savor that, like the aforementioned juiciness, cuts the wine’s richness, even as both enhance its sense of levity. The finish astonishes with its sheer persistence.
Critic scores
Average Score
Stephan Reinhardt, Wine Advocate
David Schildknecht, Vinous
More reviews and scores
The 2017 Zeltinger Schlossberg Riesling Auslese Schmitt is clear and noble on the flinty but slightly reductive nose. Lush and generous but shining and clear, precise and piquant on the palate, this is a charmingly elegant, finessed and salty Riesling of great class and style. This is a bright and beautiful Riesling from a single plot behind the church of Zeltingen. Bottled in May 2018. Tasted in March 2019.