I Already Sell Weltner, the Best Sylvaner in the World So Why am I Selling These? Because They're on That Level Yet Very Different Stylistically

Kai Schätzel Is The New Superstar in Germany - Top 10 Producer
Kai's Cerebral,  Terroir-Manic Style Creates Silvaner Like You've Never Had Before

Awesome 2015 Plus a Perfectly Mature (Maybe Even Better??) 2012 Cellar Selection!

Right now the first two Rieslings from Kai Schätzel are on the boat and I am chomping at the bit to taste them and get them in your hands. I am ridiculously excited about them. Kai Schätzel is a top 10 Dry Riesling talent in Germany. There is no doubt about it. You will see and regret you did not buy more. These are artistic, nuanced and intense expressions of Riesling that no German wine lover will be able to say no to once they taste them. Just like many of my other producers, Kai works on his own clock and his wines are released later than others and also have longer aging regimens than many other estates I work with. Think of him like a Rheinhessen Martin Müllen. Today I am doing something I thought I'd never do or say. Sell a Sylvaner that is not Weltner. I believe Kai Schätzel is making SILVANER as good as Paul Weltner. Yes. You heard me right. I went there for Riesling and came back with Riesling and Silvaner. They spell it with an I in Rheinhessen. These wines are completely and utterly stunning expressions of Silvaner BUT are completely different than our resident Sylvaner genius, Paul Weltner.  These have more fruit. They also need more time at this level (Ortsweine) than Paul's do. These wines are stuffed to the gills with dry extract for days and singular and compelling Silvaner fruit. Below is a perfectly stated paragraph from Stephane Rheinhardt on Kai and why his wines are so special. He is uncompromising as a winemaker and the wines need air and time. You go on journeys with each wine. They are ever changing and evolving and not one snapshot can capture the character of these wines. It's complexity to the nth power + refinement. 

"Schätzel presents a very unique wine style; he aims for pure and refreshing wines, with true terroir character and does not accept any over-ripeness, botrytis or corrections in the old traditions of the cellar. He is one of the very few producers who starts, like Mathieu Kauffmann (von Buhl, Pfalz), harvesting very early-about 100 days after the flowering. Thus, you do not find any tropical fruit aromas in his wines, or something I would describe as powerful or charming. In fact-and due to their coolish, frisky, finessed, rather light and grippy character-they remind me of the old times, the pre global-warming years. Fermented in traditional oak vats and foudres, these wines probably won't win any blind tastings, but with a bit of maturity, Schätzel's Rieslings and even Sylvaners are perfect to drink and match with many kinds of food. Along with Reichsrat von Buhl (Pfalz), Schäzel is one of the most exciting and interesting new developments in German wine culture."

Stephane Rheinhardt, The Wine Advocate 

Up first is the 2015 Schätzel Nierstein Silvaner for $24.99 a bottle on a 4-pack. This is sourced from the Grosses Gewachs/Grand Cru GG vineyard Hipping and is aged in 100% stainless steal. This is Grand Cru Sylvaner for $25 a bottle. Nose is mineral and funky and it has an intense and explosive palate with red slate flavors throughout. The finish is all mineral. This is at once mouthfilling  and rich, yet so light with just zippy acids. Insane length here. This is a crazy value. The wine is very good now. I mean very good but I cannot tell you how much 1-2-3-4 years does for these wines. It's like nothing I've ever encountered. Kai insisted I taste older versions of these Silvaners and I could see why. The change is remarkable as these wines age. Something I've never really encountered before with Silvaner. I tasted the 2014 Nierstein and the first line of my note was, "Wow, what a difference a year makes." It was Juicy as all can be. Insane grape tannins here. Very salty. Mineral as all can on the nose. Like it stank of minerals. Chewy and dense. Amazing persistence. So complex. One year makes difference. I think the 15 has the material to age like the 14 or even better as the depth and concentration of the 15 are a big step up from the 14. I can't wait to taste this wine in a year or two. Combine that with the seemingly backwards nature of many 15's I've tasted from the Rheinhessen this wine will overwhelmingly benefit from age.  

You know that there are certain wines that you sip and leave your mouth for like a minute and time stops and you're like, "Damn! That's just perfectly made."  Kai insisted that I taste older and younger versions of his wines and today I have the honor and privilege to offer a cellar selection Silvaner from Kai Schätzel, the 2012 Schätzel Nackenhiem Silvaner for the giveaway price of $24.99 a bottle. I chose this because, despite it being different than the Nierstein, this was the old wine that rung my bell back in August. Still, the same concept applies. Time changes these wines like nothing else.  The change is that significant. Sometimes you can recognize a kid after he/she has gone through puberty. The 2012 Nackenheim Silvaner is a gorgeous finished product. It's been resting nicely at the estate since release and is in a great place. Like most old wines, it's really about the aromatics as uniquely individual aromatics really shine with age.  I've never had a wine with aromatics quite like this - there is a slight really awesome aroma of super fresh, just cut mushrooms.  The palate is softer more and the texture more refined than the '15 with a soft, yet salty palate with a really nice acidic spine that shows itself after a while because the harmony and balance are so fine and finesse-driven you don't even notice as all the parts are perfectly integrated. Perfect apogee. This is stunning wine and a rare peek into mature Rheinhessen Silvaner from a new master. 

2015 Schaetzel Nierstein Sylvaner - $26.99 ($99.96 4-pack) 

2012 Schaetzel Nackenheim Sylvaner - $26.99 ($99.96 4-pack)