The Andrew Marvel Duo from Ziereisen - Very Highly Rated Entry Level Wines for Under $25

 Hanspeter Ziereisen

 - Is He the Most Talented Winemaker in Europe?

 - Elite Level Pinot Noir, Syrah, Chardonnay, Pinot Grigio, Gutedel, Pinot Blanc - That's 6 Grapes

 - More Grand Cru Grapes than any Winemaker in Europe

 - He Can Make Grand Cru Wines from Anything

 - Today's Wines Are the Work of an Absolute Master

 - It's Like Buying Roulot or Ente Bourgogne Blanc - the Winemaker Makes the Terroir Almost Secondary

2019 Ziereisen Mussbrugger Grauburgunder

 - 94+ Points, Stephan Reinhardt, Wine Advocate (2017 Vintage)

 - A Preposterous QPR for $24.99

 - Sick Nose

 - Pears, Smoke, Spice, Apple Skin

 - Wet Stones

 - Amazing Dryness and Beautiful Structure

 - Terrific Attack

 - Great Deliciosness

 - Complex Mineral and Acid-Driven Finish

 - The Pinot Grigio they Serve at Parties in Heaven (OK Maybe God Can Afford Zierseiens's Top Pinot Grigio, But You Get The Point)

2019 Ziereisen Lugle Weissburgunder

 - Nose: An Aromatic Superstar

 - Very Hard to Get Aromatics Like This at This Price

 - So, So Pretty; Floral and Just Really Gorgeous 

 - The Wine Equivalent of a Sunset Over the Ocean. 

 - Palate is Just Terrific

- Incredibly Balanced with Perfect Acidity and Minerality

 - Interwoven with Citrus Fruits.

"Had we but world enough and time,

This coyness, lady, were no crime.

We would sit down, and think which way

To walk, and pass our long love's day.

Thou by the Indian Ganges' side

Shouldst rubies find; I by the tide

Of Humber would complain. I would

Love you ten years before the flood,

And you should, if you please, refuse

Till the conversion of the Jews.

My vegetable love should grow

Vaster than empires and more slow;

An hundred years should go to praise

Thine eyes, and on thy forehead gaze;

Two hundred to adore each breast,

But thirty thousand to the rest;

An age at least to every part,

And the last age should show your heart.

For, lady, you deserve this state,

Nor would I love at lower rate...."

Andrew Marvel, To His Coy Mistress

The point here is that these wines are almost sold out at the estate and if you want them, you
need to order today. And it's an excuse to quote one of my favorite poems. The point is that life is short and sometimes, you need to be in a hurry. Such is the situation today with these wines. The Jaspis wines will be allocated in 2019 and I will look at your orders for the "Premium Wines" to determine the Jaspis allocations.

Yes - they are nominally pinot grigio and pinot gris. But this is Ziereisen Pinot Grigio and Pinot Gris. Utterly stunning, dense, complex, elegant, mind bending wines. If you've had them, you know. If you haven't, you need to.

The Wines

First up is the 2019 Ziereisen Musbrugger Grauburgunder for as little as $24.99 a bottle on a 4-pack. I cannot emphasize how great a value this is and how good a wine this is. One of the great white wines we have sold and happens to be an insane value. The QPR for this has to be one of the best I've ever offered here at Fass Selections. Stephan Rheinhardt (the Wine Advocate), who is a huge fan of Ziereisen gave the 2017 a 94+. 19 is better! 

Huge nose and an even better body yet ridiculous freshness. Pears, smoke, spice, apple skin. Lovely. Some wet stones as well. Amazing dryness and beautiful structure. 

Palate is textured and ripe but with wonderful juiciness. Great acids and cleanliness. Sappy and pure. Complex mineral and acid-driven finish. The wine is so long and has wonderful opulence. Palate after extensive aeration is so juicy and complete with depth and a lovely compact quality. Clean and mineral with terrific attack and palate impact. Terrific power and concentration. Damn tasty. Gets to every nook and cranny of your palate. Brilliant use of wood. It's an amazing wine but will also be terrific for spring BBQs and for those weirdo family member who always insist on Pinot Greeeeeeeegio. It will scratch that itch and you can also enjoy the wine instead of drinking industrial Pinot Grigio from Italy. Below are the Rheinhardt reviews of the 2018/2017/2016

“Looking like a Pinot Gris dressed as a salmon, Ziereisen's 2018 Musbrugger is from 45-year-old vines and has been basket-pressed. The newest release (lot L 22 20) opens with prominent sur lie aromas and a certain reduction, but it's clear, refined and elegant on the nose, with limestone-influenced fruit of red-skinned apples and discreetly scented rose petals. Tight and charmingly fruity at the same time, this is a medium to full-bodied, pure, crisp and elegant Pinot with a stimulatingly salty and refreshing aromatic finish with sweet cherry notes. This is a serious wine for many occasions, even as a soloist. And yes, it is bone dry (1.9 grams of residual sugar per liter), unlike most of the Pinot Gris from neighboring Alsace, and it's fully ripe too. The wine aged 20 months on the lees and was bottled without fining or filtration. 13.5% alcohol. Tasted in November 2020.” - 92 Points, Stephan Reinhardt (2017)

"The 2017 Musbrugger come from almost 50-year-old Pinot Gris vines whose hand-picked fruit is basket-pressed and vinified in large oak casks for almost two years. It offers an intense and aromatic yet pure and chalky bouquet with phenolic freshness, morel and white asparagus and spicy notes. Pure and refined as well as rich and textured on the palate, with fine tannins and fine, elegant acidity, this is a full-bodied and generous yet elegant and juicy, persistently salty and aromatic Pinot with apricot and nutty aromas on the finish from the fine Pinot tannins along with a lovely yeasty layer. Impressive wine with herbal and orange tea aromas on the finish. 14% alcohol with 2.7 grams of residual sugar. Tasted from lot L 20 19 in July 2020." - 94+ Points, Stephan Reinhardt (2017)

“Discreetly pink in its radiant golden-orange color, Ziereisen's 2016 Musbrugger is a clear, deep, fresh and spicy-aromatic Pinot Gris from 40+-year-old vines and offers very fine lemon and chalky notes of freshly crushed limestone rocks intertwined with ripe seed-fruit aromas. Impressively complex yet fine and elegant, with some really pink features you normally find in vinous Rosés. On the palate, this is a full-bodied, round, intense and concentrated dry Pinot Gris bottled with 13.5% alcohol and less than four grams of residual sugar. The wine is fine and delicate as well as intense and complex and finishes with Pinot grapefruit aromas, very fine tannins and delicate acidity. Once again, Hanspeter Ziereisen has proven that he is one of the world's most talented producers of Pinot Gris. His 2016 Lügle (that's the name of the plot where the grapes are sourced before they are pressed in an old horizontal basket press) is refined and vivacious as well as delicate. The finish here is long and tensioned and reveals highly stimulating salinity and vibrating mineral grip. Fascinating! Tasted from lot L1318 in January 2020.”- 94 Points, Stephan Reinhardt (2016)

The second wine is the Ziereisen Lugle Weissburgunder for $24.99 on a 4 pack. This is a single parcel Pinot Blanc from 32 year old vines on jurassic chalk. If you are looking for aromatic white wines, this is really one of the best values I've seen. This wine is truly an aromatic superstar, which is really hard to find at this price. The nose is just so, so pretty; floral and just really nice. The wine equivalent of a sunset over the ocean. Stunning nose of green apple, pear, spice, spring herbs, fresh air, mineral, green beans, so good. Soupy but with cleanliness and clarity. With air comes sugar snap peas, clean minerals, pine resin, salty extract and some bitter citrus. 

The palate is just terrific - incredibly balanced with perfect acidity and minerality interweaving with citrus fruit. It has terrific purity and concentration with a very delicate structure. Awesome texture. So sappy, pretty and delicate. Wonderful wine with outstanding acid and terrific length. Very pure and clean Almost riesling-like. After air, palate is elegant and round but with terrific freshness and purity. Very deep and ripe. Juicy. Really juicy. Awesome freshness and structure. This is a dense little Weissburgunder. Balanced, pure and super clean. Long. It's a great aperitif wine because the aromatics are so great that you can sniff it for an hour, drinking occasionally. It's great with food as well and frankly, at this price, you can open it whenever you like and not feel guilty. 

“The 2018 Lügle is a basket-pressed Pinot Blanc that aged for 20 months on the lees prior to bottling (no fining, no filtration). The wine opens pure and fresh yet aromatically quite subtle, with white fruit and limestone-influenced notes. Full-bodied yet stunningly fresh for 2018, this is a pure, vital, fine and elegant Pinot Blanc that is an excellent wine to enjoy with fish and even seafood. It's bone dry, which underlines the pure and tensioned character of this minerally rather than fruity white. Excellent freshness and aging potential. 13.5% alcohol. Tasted in November 2020.” - 91 Pts Stephan Reinhardt (2018)

2019 Ziereisen Musbrugger Grauburgunder - $26.99 ($99.96 4-Pack)

(VERY LIMITED)

2019 Ziereisen Lugle Weissburgunder - $26.99 ($99.96 4-Pack)

(VERY LIMITED)