On Karma, Restoring Karmic Balance and Giving Back to You All with an At Cost Offer

 2017 Gunther Steinmetz Kestener Paulinsberg Auslese (375 ML)

 - $15.99 NET - At Our Cost

 - Merry X-Mas

 - 93 Points, Stephan Reinhardt (WA)

 - I Think That Age Has Bumped the Quality

 - Nose: Stunning Complexity, Very Ripe and Very Fine

 - Starting to Show Aged Riesling Characteristics

 - Some Tropical Notes

 - Wonderful Red Apple

 - Some Honeydew Melon

 - Very Ripe Pink Grapefruit

 - Complex Slatey Aromas

 - Palate: Ripe and Rich

 - Intense Caressing Acidity

 - Honeydew Melon

 - Creamy

 - Long finish 

 - Saline and Salty

At Cost

We haven’t done this in a long time but today we are in the Xmas spirt and are selling a
wine at cost.

On Karma and Universal Karmic Balance

Karma literally means work or deed. It is first mentioned in the Upanishads, the early Sanskrit texts that discuss Hindu philosophy. The notion is that we become good through good deeds and evil through evil deeds. Which is certainly a bummer if you like to preach one thing and say another. There are actually various interpretations of karma in the different Hindu sects. There is a simlilar concept in Judiasm, "midah k'neged midah" which basically means that how you behave will eventually rebound on you.

I'm using the term universal karmic balance to connote the idea that bad actions by others affect us all. And only by good actions can we bring the universe back to an even state. To be realistic, that means an average level of crappiness. But hey, I do what I can.

My Small Effort to Restore Balance

The story goes something like this. Stefan Steinmetz, before he was working with us, had an importer (I won't disclose the country) ask him to make a special batch of half bottles for the Xmas holidays. He bottled around 3,600 of these half bottles. Guess what? The importer decided he didn’t need the wine and didn’t take delivery on the wine.

As an aside the behavior of some of my colleagues will never cease to disgust me. The lack of respect is mind boggling. As I have my own company and we always will and always have treated our growers with the respect they are due and deserve. Rant over. 

In any case, Stefan is "stuck" with the wine. It's an amazing wine but the Germans don't buy 375s. So I am selling these at cost to help Stefan, and if you believe in Karmic balance and the entire universe this is a fairly tall order, I'll admit, but a worthwhile effort.

Also, the wine is fantastic and it's a nice way to thank you all for another great year at Fass Selections. And it's great to have 375s in the cellar to finish a meal when you don't want to open a 750. Also, this has aged more quickly than a 750 would, so you are getting a semi-aged Mosel Riesling for a song.

The Wine

The wine is the 2017 Gunther Steinmetz Kestener Paulinsberg Auslese (375 ML) for $15.99 NET. This is an amazing deal and we are only covering our costs as this is the absolute right thing to do. It’s a Xmas gift for Stefan Steinmetz and a Xmas gift to you for your incredible patronage over the last year. And what an extraordinarily complex year it was. 

This wine has a gorgeous color that looks like a barrel sample. Stefan says 17 was a difficult vintage marked by a late frost. The vines had a mix of very ripe material and not so ripe material so sorting was paramount. This was an aggressively acidic and mean wine in its youth according to Stefan. Age has smoothed out all the issues of its precocious youth. This has always been a ripe wine with no green acidity.

Nose is very ripe and very fine. It’s starting to show aged Riesling Characteristics (petrol). It’s somewhat tropical but also shows the wonderful red apple aromas that are so common with the Herrenberg. It’s fresh cut red apples that have barely started to oxidize. Also some honeydew melon. Also some very ripe pink grapefruit. No botrytis on the nose as the Paulinsberg has raisins in the vineyard and never has any botrytis. Also some complex slatey aromas. It’s a typical minerality that is found in grey slate vineyards.

Palate is ripe and rich but the acidity is so intense. Yet it’s very balanced. Acid clocks in around 8 grams. Acid is very present but but not punishing more like it is caressing aggressively. Honeydew melon on the palate and it also has that fine slight bitterness of honeydew melon. Creamy and oily on the attack and acid on the back end creates a brilliant contrast. Long finish that is saline and salty. Stays in the mouth for a long time. Finish is a minimum of 45 seconds. Some of the flavors linger for minutes! The Paulinsberg is very similar to the Graacher Domprobst Stefan tells me and not gong to lie I adore the Domprobst. This got 93 points by Stephan Reinhardt and the review is below. 

“The 2017 Kestener Paulinsberg Riesling Auslese is very intense and concentrated on the pretty rich nose with pineapple aromas. Lush and generous on the palate yet not super precise or sharp, this is a piquant and stimulatingly salty Auslese with lush, sexy fruit. Excellent. Tasted in March 2019.” - 93 Points, Stephan Reinhardt, WA.

2017 Gunther Steinmetz Kestener Paulinsberg Auslese 375 ML - $15.99 NET