0-50. Juwel Has Gone from Unknown Keller Protege to Superstar in a Heartbeat - Wines Will Be Allocated Soon - Amazing Pinot Noir and Weissburgunder

Every Bottle from 2017 Is Sold at the Winery Already
A Combination of the Keller Training/Mystique and the Sheer Brilliance of the Wines

2016 Juwel Alsheim Spatburgunder
 - May Be the Last It Is Not Allocated to Previous Buyers
 - If You Want to Be on the List for Next Year This Is Your Shot
 -  The 2017 Pinot Noir Will Sell Out in 5 Minutes

2017 Juwel Weissburgunder Trocken
 - Will Take Another Year or Two to Achieve the Cult Status of Enderle & Moll ... but It Will - It's Fantastic
 - Minerals, Grapefruit, Incredibly Juicy
 - Stinging, Almost Alive on the Finish
 - Crazy Value for a Village Quality Wine at $19.99

In the 5+ year history of Fass Selections I've never had the overwhelming positive response that I've had for the wines of Julianne Eller and her eponymous Juwel winery. It seems every other day another email comes in thanking me for finding her wines and bringing them in. What's even more crazy is the wine that I least thought would become a hit has become a huge hit, which is her Spagtburgunder, which is about as honest and authentic a wine I've ever sold. It made everyone happy across the spectrum of my clientele. From the casual wine drinker to the über serious wine geek. Her wines shimmer with delicacy but also have super Fassy acidity, minerality and freshness. These have a class to them reminiscent of her mentee, Klaus Peter Keller, but also march off into their own direction. The wines are stylish and have beautiful harmony and depth. Class in a glass. Julianne is so talented that I am lucky to have her and every bottle is a gift to the vinous world. I won't have enough to satisfy demand but hopefully I will. I want as many people as possible to experience these wines but they are limited.

Up first is the wine everybody has been asking me about and that is the 2016 Juwel Alsheim Spatburgunder for $32.99 on a 4-pack. This wine is arguably, next to Enderle & Moll Liason, our most popular German Pinot Noir. This has all that the '14 has. 2016 is a much stronger vintage in the Rheinhessen for Spatburgunder. 2015 is great but compared to 14 or 16 it is an anomaly as it is so

decadent. The 16 is, and I hate this term, Burgundian to the max. The bouquet is an overflow of raspberry and other berry fruits. Floral as well but more like a big bowl of berries picked as fresh as can be, but under that is a pile of wet soil and leaves. And maybe some mashed flowers. It is a stunning perfume. Just stunning and noble aromas but also effusive, easy and inviting. There is structure and acid and so much fruit as this is Pinot Noir and it's 2016, which is like 14 turbocharged! Gorgeous, gorgeous wine with amazing depth. The fruit is at once sweet and earthy and so textured you can get lost in the midpalate. And this is such pure, mid-season brambly blackberry/ raspberry fruit that just crunches in your mouth with such deliciousness, focus, freshness and intensity. The freshness is something that runs throughout all of Julianne's wines. The mentor and influence of Klaus-Peter Keller hovers throughout yet without sacrificing her individual style. It has a medium body feel to it in the mouth but is still nimble and most importantly it had the transparency her beautiful Rieslings have. Silky and tense yet inviting, this is a wine that is impossible to hate and easy to like, and easier to love. I know I won't get any so let me drink some with you.

Up next I've got the 2017 Juwel Weissburgunder Trocken for $19.99 a bottle. First of all this wine is too cheap. This is ridiculous quality and think of this like a $30 wine as that is the level of depth and complexity we have here. This is a village level wine equivalent in Burgundy. Many Weissburgunder can come across as fat, oaky and a bit obvious with the fruit. Not this one. This cuts with razor sharp acidity and focus and overflows with minerals while also just showing hints of delicate pear and Apple fruit. I don't make millions  selling Weissburgunder but that's ok, as people will be very, very, very happy with this wine. It is scary how such a small production wine (400 bottles) can be so good, so dynamic and so complex.  It sees no wood and gets 6 months in stainless steel. It is scintillating wine. It has all the juicy green apple Pinot Blanc flavors one can ask for, while being dazzlingly fresh and so pure with just so much mineral electricity.  I can taste this wine as I write. The hint of opulence and mid palate intensity are remarkable here. It finishes with lovely spice and minerals to burn. This is totally bonkers for $19.99 a bottle. It has length, freshness, delicacy, richness and a gobsmack of green apple fruit. This is an absolute steal at this price. Truly remarkable. $19.99 for a Unicorn wine???

You know you're getting old when the winery that put German dry Riesling on the map, Keller in Florsheim-Dalsheim, is graduating pupils into the world who have worked for him and they are making wines that show his influence, but also branch out on their own unique paths.  I am proud to announce the American debut of a rising star in Alsheim, the extremely talented Julianne Eller, and her own small label, Juwel.


These are stunning wines. All of them. There is a lightness of touch here that is striking. I call them weightless.  You put them in your mouth and you almost don't notice that they are there and then you are hit by waves of fruit and minerality.  All of the components just show up, almost out of nowhere. There is also an underlying intensity as well, like a coiled fist. The Keller influence for me is most marked in their dazzling precision.  Every wine she makes is not merely good, but great. If you've ever had the privilege of tasting with Klaus-Peter, it's an absurd display of greatness. That is the way it was when I tasted Julianne's wines for the first time.

2016 Juwel Alsheim Spatburgunder - $34.99 ($131.96 4-pack)

2017 Juwel Weissburgunder - $21.99 ($79.96 4-pack)