- We Need to Show the Love
- Spring 2022 Shipping Season
2020 Vintage
- Classic, Classic, Classic Vintage
- The Amount of Work in the Vineyards Was Historic
- There Was Nothing Else to Do
- These Wines Have Always Aged Brilliantly - 2020 Will Be No Exception
2020 Paul Weltner Rodelseer Schwanleite Scheurebe Trocken Erste Lage
- GG-Style Scheurebe
- The Denisty of 50 Year Old Vines
- Aromas of Blackberry, Pink Grapefruit, Sage, Mineral
- Dried Lemon Pith
- White Flowers
- Palate: A Masterpiece
- Dense Exotic Fruit
- Brilliant Acidity
- But Still So Much Finesse and Cut
- Almost Like You Get in Certain Top Notch Condrieu
- The Best Scheurebe in Germany IMHO
- In Normal 750 ML Bottles
Massimo Bottura's 6 Tortellini - One of the Iconic Alt Wines of Germany
Most of us have heard of Massimo Bottura, the famed 3 Michelin Star chef at Osteria Francescana who has topped the list of the greatest restaurants in the world. Likely his most famous dish was his 6 Tortellini. Tortellini in brodo is a famous dish in his region (Emilia Romagna) but Bottura took this humble dish and elevated it. He made something great from something that was considered ordinary.
Today, Paul Weltner has done the same with Scheurebe. Scheurebe has always been a fascinating niche grape. Ive loved it but it was sort of like Sauvignon Blanc in that it was fun to drink but not super interesting. Today, we have a wine that truly shows the heights that Scheurebe can attain in the hands of a master.
This is a wine that you will want to have in your cellar. You will easily drink 4-5 of these a year. Some nights it may be with a simple meal. Some nights it may be something you pull out to shock your friends. But this wine will disappear.
The 2020 Vintage
The 2020 vintage will be something very special and classic. First, the classic part. That boils down to weather. The special part is because I think that the winemakers spent more time in the vineyards than any other vintage. There was obviously not much else to do.
"2020 is little bit like 2016 or maybe like 2018" - 2016 is my favorite vintage at Weltner.
"More mineral - deep but lighter in the volume rougher than 2019." - Elegance and finesse rule the day at Weltner in 2020
"Sylvaner is classik - pure spicy rounder than 2020 - mayby more an 'professional'
classic year." (sic) Classic. We like classic.
The Wall of Flavor
What is The Wall of Flavor? It is an internal description of the effect that certain elite wine producers
bring to the table. There are so few that do it. Generally it only happens with German wines but it can happen outside Germany at estates such as Guy Roulot. It is also only used for describing white wines. It's when the acid, minerals, fruit and minerals explode in your palate like a dam has been released and the liquid rushes down your palate like a wall. But that wall all has flavor. The wall of flavor is intense but it does not lack focus or precision. And in Weltner's case it has elite elegance as well which is what makes the Weltner Wall of Flavor so compelling. I've never not had a Weltner wine that doesn't have The Wall of Flavor. But the finest expression of this unique vinous phenomenon is in Paul's two Grosses Gewachs from Hoheleite. They are made from Riesling and SIlvaner and are both Fass core legend wines.
bring to the table. There are so few that do it. Generally it only happens with German wines but it can happen outside Germany at estates such as Guy Roulot. It is also only used for describing white wines. It's when the acid, minerals, fruit and minerals explode in your palate like a dam has been released and the liquid rushes down your palate like a wall. But that wall all has flavor. The wall of flavor is intense but it does not lack focus or precision. And in Weltner's case it has elite elegance as well which is what makes the Weltner Wall of Flavor so compelling. I've never not had a Weltner wine that doesn't have The Wall of Flavor. But the finest expression of this unique vinous phenomenon is in Paul's two Grosses Gewachs from Hoheleite. They are made from Riesling and SIlvaner and are both Fass core legend wines.
The Wine
If there were a GG classification for Scheurebe this wine would be it but alas there is not, so it is just a crazy deal. The 2020 Paul Weltner Rodelseer Schwanleite Scheurebe Trocken Erste Lage for as little as $30.99 a bottle on a 4-pack is just epic, GG-style Scheurebe for so little. It is technically an Erste Lage but whatever you can classify the yin yang out of this wine and that would not do it justice. It is the drier and deeper of the 2 Scheurebe Paul makes from vines planted in 1968. It has under 2 grams of sugar. This is as serious as Scheurebe gets. It is the finest dry Scheurebe Germany makes. This wine is so refined it cannot be overstated and man is the '20 deep and so filigreed. Maybe the most filigreed one yet.
The nose: Sick aromas of blackberry, pink grapefruit, sage, mineral. Some lime and rosemary. Dried lemon pith. White flowers. This is so, so, so clean. All perfectly integrated like a wine much higher in price. This is some inner earth Tolkien stuff. This grape is normally humble but in the right hands, and with old vines, you get the elegance of a great wine. It's so much fun to sniff something so unique.
On the palate, it has classic Weltner restraint along with exotic, tropical fruits that you get in Scheurebe. But so elegant at the same time. Likely the most elegant Scheurebe I've ever had. Terrific juiciness. Huge acids and ripeness and such balance and depth. What a massive palate impact. Terrific density and concentraion. Still, amazing cut - the precision you get in wine made by the very top winemakers. Genius! Brilliant!
2020 Paul Weltner Rodelseer Schwainleite Scheurebe Trocken Erste Lage - $32.99 ($123.96 4-Pack) (*Including Tariff of $3.06)
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