The Wine That is Becoming an Icon The Wine We Buy Year in, Year Out If You Love Dry German Riesling, This is a Must Buy If You've Never Had it, This is the One to Try

I  know it sounds crazy to call an under $30 wine an icon but Battenfeld Spanier's Molsheim is

becoming one.  Its affordable because of my model (it would be $50 or so 3 tier) and many, many customers buy it every year.  Every year, it's a little different but always stunningly well made and delicious.  And it's the first wine we offer year in and year out. It's like other famous affordable wines like PYCM's, Clos Roche Blanche (sadly no more) and JJ Pruem.

I am thrilled to usher in of yet another brilliant vintage of Battenfeld Spanier. It's almost tiring at this point. Starting with the 2012's, today I am offering the fourth vintage of Battenfeld Spanier we have worked with, the first 2015 German Riesling at Fass Selections, and it is the 2015 Battenfeld Spanier Moelsheim which can be had for as little as $25.99 on a 4-pack and the stupid price of $23.99 on a case. I rarely offer case pricing but when a wine is this great it's a no brainer. The  wines have an epic following here at Fass Selections and there are a plethora of reasons. For me the top reason has to be the mind-numbing consistency.  Every year, all the wines are not just good, but great, brilliant, genius and any other hyperbole one can bestow on these wines. They also make all types of drinkers happy. The geeks, the semi geeks, the non wine people all love this wine as it has geeky mineral/acid/limestone stuff for the geeks and incredible fruit for the non geeks.

H.O. Spanier and Carolin are very excited about the 15's as it was picked a bit earlier than normal due to a warm summer but also it has wonderful levels of acidity. Some producers actually considered de-acidifying in '15, which they haven't done since '10 and before that in the 80's. That combo brings to mind 10 or possibly 08, but one thing for sure this is a modern classic vintage for Rheinhessen Riesling. Carolin and H.O. are tasting every day and the wines keep improving and putting on weight and complexity.

So why should you buy this wine?

• I am absolutely in love with this wine.  I fell in love with it the first time I tasted it in Germany.  It's one of my favorite under $30 wines I've ever had.  
• You just can't buy wines with this level of power, finesse, minerality and balance for under $30.  I can't think of that many that have those qualities that you can buy for under $50.
• Battenfeld Spanier is the Crown Jewel of my German Riesling portfolio and a top 5 wine estate in Germany
• You are saving nearly 50% off the retail price, which would be $45 if Battenfeld-Spanier went through the 3-tier system
• You are getting a baby-GG (German Grand Cru) from one of the top, if not the top, winemakers in Germany.  This is young vine fruit from Hergott, what is considered their top GG Other than maybe the top 5-10 producers, I'd put this up against most other GGs in Germany.  It's that good.

• The 2012 was one of the most popular wines that we've ever sold.  Most people thought it was our best village German Riesling but there was a dissenting pro-Laible camp within Fass Selections that liked the higher acidity in those wines.  The 2013 was a game changer.  There was still fruit but the acid levels brought it into perfect balance. Even the acid loving Laible lovers loved it.  The 2014 was all finesse, angles, edges and awash with beautiful expressive fruit. The 2015 is like 12 and 14 blended.  Besides slate, Riesling also has an affinity for limestone and I cannot think of a better example than this. The '15 has perfect tension between fruit, minerality and acid. And, oh what acids.  So zingy, salty and tangy. So tense. Amazingly pure citrus fruits that are more on the fleshy side with some fruit pith in the background while '14 was more about pith. This is a wine that makes an evening.  It is like drinking 1er Cru Chablis from an elite producer. 

Please do not think of it as a $23.99 wine.  Schäfer Fröhlich gets $45 a bottle for his dry village wines and I would have no issue selling it for that - but I'm leveraging the weak Euro, cutting margins and selling it at these prices because I want you to try it and see the power of German dry Riesling.

This is one of the main reasons that I opened Fass Selections; to sell an affordable (under $30) German village Riesling that shows the power, finesse and balance that German Riesling can deliver.  I wanted to show people who couldn't part with $80 for a top tier Grosses Gewachs that these wines are among the best in the world.

However much of this wine you buy, you will regret not buying more. It's the wine in your cellar that will be gone in 6 months. Why? Because it's so delicious that it's the wine that you will go to until you realize that it's all gone. Also, it's so affordable for a world class wine that you won't feel any guilt in drinking it. Also you will want to open it ip for anybody and everybody.

I am offering this early because this wine sells out in Germany.  Once the offer closes, it's gone.

Battenfield-Spanier is co-owned by Carolin Spanier-Gillot (who has her own fine estate, Kuhling-Gillot) with her husband H.O. Spanier. Since they are married, some of the winery functions have been combined, such as the gorgeous tasting room and marketing. Each wine cannot be be more different because they are masters at allowing terroir to express itself. I tasted them all side by side with Caroline's father going back and forth and could not believe the differences. A fascinating exercise in terroir.

Since 2008 H.O. Spanier has separated himself from the pack, and in this taster's opinion, H.O. Spanier is on the wine making level of the great Klaus-Peter Keller. Stylistically they are different but qualitatively they are equal. The style at Battenfeld-Spanier as it is currently is waves and waves of opulent fruit with a texture that is unlike anything I have ever experienced in fine German Riesling on a bed of super intense minerality.

They are located in the Rheinhessen in which are three main departments. Bingen, Nierstein and the rest is called the Wonnegau, which is the southern most part of the the Rheinhessen, near Worms. It has been much maligned in its history because most growers were about quantity (Liebfraumilch anybody?) and not quality till around 20 years ago. The wines of the Wonnegau and the wines of the Bingen/Nierstein area have about as much in common as a tiger does with a bear. Yes, they are both mammals, but that's where it ends. Yes, they make Riesling in the Bingen/Nierstein area and yes they make Riesling in the Wonnegau, but that is where the similarities end. The Rheinhessen is over 25,00 hectares and there are tons of different terroirs.

Located in Hohen-Suelzen, Battenfield-Spanier farm 24 hectares biodynamically and they have some of the most beautiful steep vineyards I have ever seen in the Rheinhessen. This means they want a healthy, living ecosystem within their vineyards. It is painstaking work but the results usually speak for themselves. This is very rare to be biodynamic in Germany. Wittman and Clemens Bush are the only estates I can think of off the top of my head that farm biodynamically. There is around 80% spontaneous yeast fermentation and wines are aged in stainless steel or oak in the cellar.

These are uncompromising wines that want to be drunk. They are also delicious. And I mean really delicious. There is a great quote from the Battenfield-Spanier website that sums up the style, better than I ever could, what makes these wines special. "My wines are sensuous but aloof. They reveal depth when one takes time for them." Sounds like me!

2015 Battenfeld Spanier Moelsheim Riesling Trocken - $27.99 

($103.96 4-pack, $287.88 12 bottle case)