Two Premier Crus Whites from one of Germany's Top 10 Producers: Under $25 - Cult Producer Paul Weltner

There are many winemakers that are genius' but there is only one Paul Weltner making the wine that

he is making. This is the 5th vintage I have worked with this mad genius and his wines get better and better. I've gotten so many emails from seasoned wine drinkers that are just blown away by the high quality and distinctiveness of Paul's wines. Paul is one of the few winemakers that people actually send me emails thanking me for bringing these wines into their life as they had no idea they were missing. From Schuerebe to Silvaner to Riesling every bottling is a masterpiece. He pushes himself harder and harder in the vineyard and does not rest on his success or laurels. He is a top 10 producer in Germany. Easy. He's in Franken so his wines remain affordable. He has in his wines what I like to call the wall of flavor. Roulot has it. Schafer-Frohlich has it. Battenfeld-Spanier has it. And Paul Weltner has it in spades. It's a combo of fruit, minerals and acid that just assault your palate like a wall crashing down. Add Paul's unique and distinctive opulence and you have wines that literally takes ones breath away. Today I have his 1er Cru wines aka Ortsweine. The value here cannot be overstated. Paul is very happy with his 2016 vintage. There is more acid than 15, same amount of finesse and elegance and full bodied. Paul is very excited about the ageability of these.  To quote Paul when I asked him to send me a blurb on both of the wines. He sent me the below.

"Both wines bombing this year."

So that's promising and I have to agree with him.

I have the 2016 Weltner Rodelseer Schweinlete Sylvaner "Alte Reben" which for me is one of his signature wines, for as little as $24.99 on a 4-pack.  It is what he is all about. Heck, one could say that this is what Sylvaner is all about and should aspire to.  If you like white wine, do NOT miss this wine. It is completely outrageous and absolutely trounces every Silvaner on the market at this price point and 20% higher! I adore this wine and never have enough. I want to open it for anybody and everybody. The vineyards are around 20 years older than the wonderful Kuchenmesiter Sylvaner and it's just a better more complete wine in my opinion. The Kuchenmeister is more compact and finesse driven and I love it but the Schwainlate is brilliant. It has complexity to burn. So many flavors and textures and a bit of jagged minerality that bounces all around your mouth. The Schwainlate is incredibly crisp with remarkable length. and depth.  It has that full-bodied 2016 fruit and the length is just incredible. It has a wild feral character to it all the while being so clean, pure and deep. The texture on this wine is crazy. It has so much of an herbal character as well with intense minerality from the deep Keuper soils. This wine is more aromatic than Kuchenmeister which holds its aromas in reserve due to the soils being different.  If you think that you know what Sylvaner can achieve, just throw out all of those preconceptions.  The wine is just a unique drinking experience - I've never had any Sylvaner like it and the second best doesn't even compare. This wine has the structure to age for up to 10-15 years.

Up next is the big sleeper in the Weltner portfolio but may be his most brilliant Erste Lage wine, the 2016 Weltner Rodelseer Kuchenmeister Riesling Trocken for as little as $24.99 a bottle on the 4-pack.  First off is this is the wine I ordered the most of for myself during our very first ship and always have at least 6 bottles a vintage. It, for me, is the ultimate, geeky Riesling-fest in a bottle.  Although Paul is known for his sublime Sylvaners inside of Germany, the people in the know say the Rieslings are the big secret/surprise here; they are among the best in Germany. There is incredible fruit in this wine, but that comes out after a heavy decant or a day or two open. This is a wine about freshness, minerality and acidity perfectly executed. It has fierce acidity, which I love, and dense packed minerals in between all that intense acidity. But it is so fresh, so juicy, just so alive, it captures your imagination. It is so long on the palate as to not be believed.  It is medium bodied and the minerality is at once smokey and at once salty. The 2016 full-bodied fruit turbo boost helps this wine so much as the concentration and fruit quality is first rate!

These wines are also, perhaps the "Fassiest" wines in this portfolio. They have very good acidity, amazing intensity (these are not light whites), huge dry extract, massive minerality, stunning purity, epic textures and are faithful to respective sites.  In short, the Wall of Flavor: when you drink them your palate is assaulted by a moving wall of fruit, minerality and aromatics that won't quit and lasts 30-45 seconds after you swallow.

2016 Paul Weltner Rodelsee Schwainlate  Sylvaner Alte Reben - $26.99 

($99.96 4-pack) (LIMITED)

2016 Paul Weltner Rodelseer Kuchenmeister Riesling Trocken - $26.99 ($99.96 4-pack) (LIMITED)