The Galleries Vollard - All Greatness Starts Somewhere

 The Next Great Allocated German Micro Production Pinot Noir  - If You Missed Out on Enderle & Moll, This Is Your Chance 

 - From the Craziest, Steepest Terroir in the Mosel

 - Utterly Profound

 - Vosne-Like

 - Only His 5th Vintage and He's Already One of the Top German Pinot Stars

2018 Marbleous Winninger Spätburgunder

 - Easily 1er Cru Burgundy Quality

- Nose: All Terroir 

 - Sappy Pine, Tree Bark, Slate, 

 - Sappy Sour Cherries

 - Spice and Dusty Earth Tones

 - Stunning. Fresh and Transparent

 - Gorgeous Sappy Sour and Mid Season Cherry Fruit,

 - Glorious Spice and Incredible Purity

 - Stunning Drinkability

 - Compare to Ziereisen "Talrain", Enderle & Moll "Liaison," Max Geitlinger Spätburgunder

 - Fewer than 600 Bottles Made per Year (I'm Not Kidding)

2018 Marbleous Spätburgunder 

 - Nose: Simply Stunning

 - Herbal, Cranberry, Early Season Cherries

 - Unreal Spice

 - Heavenly Aromatics

 - Citrus Rind, Cocoa

 - Smells like $60 Burgundy

 - Palate: Great Freshness, Energy and Purity

 - Terrific Lift and Faint Mid Season Cherry Fruit

 - So Unique

 - Gorgeous Sappy Sour and Mid Season Cherry Fruit

 - Serious Sense of Transparency

 - Almost Citrussy Brightness

 - Off the Charts Drinkability/$25.99 Represents ELITE Value!

The Galeries Vollard

In the summer of 1901, Pablo Picasso held his first Parisian exhibition at Les Galeries Vollard. At this point, he was not Pablo Picasso. He was just another young kid artist living at the edge of
starvation and occasionally burning his art to avoid freezing to death. 1901 marked the beginning of his blue period. The somber works with blue tones that was the first major period of his career. This is 8 years before cubism. 36 years before Guernica.

The point, of course, is that all genius before it is recognized, is... well unrecognized. And everyone starts somewhere. And for Picasso, it was Les Galeries Vollard. And, for today's winemaker, it is Fass Selections.

The Wines

The first wine is the 2018 Marbleous Winninger Spatburgunder which can be had for $41.99 a bottle on a 4-Pack. 

When I opened it for I stuck my nose in that decanter and sniffed till I could sniff no more. Yes, before I even tasted I knew this was a 95 point wine. The nose was just spellbinding. Captivating. I was floored. This is only Tobias' 5th vintage and I could not believe the quality. I was blown away. And yes 18 helps, because it's the greatest vintage for German Pinot Noir since 15. But I also tasted a 19 barrel sample and was floored as well. Might be better than the 18! This kid is such a talent. So passionate and that passion is expressed beautifully in this wine. Make no mistake this is easily 1er Cru Burgundy quality. 

What a nose. It is gorgeous and filled with black cherries and a background of slatey/minerality. Spices, even some lighter cherry tones and huge dark florals. It's captivating. Just unreal. Huge herbals and spice. Dizzying, and mesmerizing. Just sick. Wow these aromas are just so subtle yet also so in your face. Huge sweetness and complexity. Nose has Xmas spice and chestnut now after air. Cranberry and mid season cherry. So so good. Vosne like. Just stunning. You won’t even believe it. 

The palate was revelatory. Sweet, sappy, dark and urgent Pinot fruit. Such purity. I could not believe how pure and how serious this wine was. It was everything one could ask for. Sweet, supple and has energy for days with fresh and engaging tannins that are supple and sweet. Just gorgeous. Still this is a very structured wine that needs some age. Maybe 5 years. The oak structure was magnificent and this was built like a brick house. It was super juicy with amazing, such fine, such poised and intricate tannins dripping when sweet, rich, decadent Pinot fruit. Wonderful acidity holds it all together and makes you salivate. This is an accomplishment like no other. What a leap! The sap and freshness is unheard of at this price point.

The second wine is the 2018 Marbleous Spätburgunder which can be had for $25.99 a bottle on a 4-pack. It is incredible. This is a STUNNING Pinot Noir value.

Stunning nose. Herbal, cranberry, early season cherries, so so good. Sick in your face aromas. Unreal spice. 9.3/9.4 nose. Holy heaven this is aromatic. Tree bark. Citrus rind. Cocoa but so slight. Cinnamon, clove and cardamon. Just insane. So elegant, rustic and fresh. This is a German cotes de Beaune villages if I had to compare. It’s more the herbal/spice side of Pinot Noir. Insane nose. Really this smells like $60 Burgundy. 

Palate is stunning. Great freshness, energy and purity. Really has terrific lift and faint mid season cherry fruit that takes a few hours to get there. A great wine. So unique in all the spats I have. Fresh and transparent with gorgeous sappy sour and mid season cherry fruit, glorious spice and such purity. Clean as a whistle while having a serious sense of transparency. After an hour the texture becomes classically seductive Pinot Noir. Juicy. A hint of citrus due to brightness of fruit and just pawesome texture. But that citrus integrates as it opens and sits out and faint sweet mid season Cherry takes over. So balanced and so pure you can tell this is an expert winemaker. The drinkability factor of this wine is off the charts. What every "Estate" wine level Pinot should be in Germany. It's so well made has just the right amount of fruit, aroma and is oozing with character. Truly a great wine. You will love this one. It's in the same league but totally different and distinctive as Ziereisen "Talrain", Enderle & Moll "Liaison," and Max Geitlinger Spätburgunder. 

And Now, the Back Story...

I've been selling wines from the best and brightest winemakers in Germany for almost two decades. My contacts there are, to put it mildly, deep. As such, in Germany, I generally find new producers via word of mouth and recommendations from palates I trust.

Given the fantastic success of our German Pinot Noir offerings, I've been pushing for new Pinot Noir producers. The problem is, because I already have a stable of 11 of the top producers, the bar has been set pretty high. Fortunately, one of my customers also has deep relationships in Germany and an excellent palate. I told her I wanted to hone in on the next generation of German Pinot winemakers who were protégés of people like Hanspeter Ziereisen. Today's winery is brand new producer to Fass Selections, Tobias Feiden of the Terrassen Mosel (Lower Mosel) estate Marbelous idolizes Hanspeter Ziereisen. It was one of the first things he told me. That was a good sign.

Tobias lives and works in Winningen in the Terrasen (lower) Mosel. This is an absolutely stunning little area of the Mosel that has more breathtaking views than one can shake a stick at as one can see from the picture. Normally the way I like to do it with a new winemaker is to see the vineyards and cellar before I taste. Usually I can tell if the wine will be good just by seeing how they work, what other wines they like and just having a general discussion about wine. You need to remember the Terrasen Mosel is very different than the Upper or Middle Mosel. It's much warmer first of all and it is also much smaller in area but there is a smaller and much higher concentration of quality producers. It's steep as can be and it's really hard to cultivate vines here, but the people who do it, have serious passion and generally aren't going to do all this work to make bad wine. Before I met Tobias I had heard of one Pinot Noir made in the Terrasen Mosel, and that was a hybrid project between Hanspeter Ziereisen and Richard Heymann-Lowenstein that was bottled under the Heymann-Lowenstein label. Heymann-Lowenstein is the most important estate and person in the Terrasen Mosel and like a father to everybody young there. The wine was delicious, but what I have today I believe to be even better. Much better. Profound. One of the areas we discussed as we were looking at the vineyards was wood. Tobias hates new wood and he uses old Burgundy barrels to age his wine. Like really old. From Rousseau or Lignier I can't recall). He was very passionate about this and we bonded over our mutual dislike of overly woody Pinot Noir. I knew the wines would be awesome. He hates wood and his vineyards were gorgeous. Living, breathing ecosystems of Pinot Noir and so much cover crop. It was a beautiful sight to see. I almost didn't have to taste the wine. I was convinced. But then we headed back to Winningen, which was popping, as the Winningen Weinfest was happening and Tobias was also working the festival.

Tobias worked at Knebel for 3 years and before that did stints in New Zealand and South Africa, but he has not yet been to the United States. Everybody who buys these will automatically be on the list to get them every year. He made so little of the 2015 and he is starting to become talked about in Germany. Buy now or forever hold your peace as this will be allocated in the future. It's all about getting in the on the ground floor as my Möbitz and E and M customers know very well by now.

2018 Marbleous Winninger Spätburgunder - $43.99 ($167.96 4-Pack) 

2018 Marbleous Spätburgunder - $27.99 ($103.96 4-Pack)