I know I report on these quite regularly. That’s because the estate is remarkably interesting and consequential, and because they are very good about sending me samples. With this collection I’m unusually timely, as the Crus on the market are (still) the 2023s, and all the other wines were current when I visited them last April.   There are two more reasons for paying this degree of attention. One is, even with a winery as reliable as this one, the occasional flub sneaks thr

“HGS” as he was known to most of us, succumbed at last to the various maladies that had dimmed his aura in recent years.   He will – already has, when he turned 80 – receive a clamor of encomia both for the impact he had on viticulture and for the gentle soul he was personally. I paid tribute to him when he “retired” from Müller-Catoir back in July 2002. You can find it on this website by looking under “portfolio” and then downloading my 2003 Germany catalog. There aren’t man

As you know, Selbachs make the wines now, following the passings of the Merkelbach brothers. Rolf and Alfred’s methods are being followed, in order to preserve their Edenic style, their lightness, and their freedom from affect.   What I don’t know is whether the old viticulture is being continued, including harvesting dates and methods. I trust it is being followed at least in spirit, because a precise facsimile seems impossible. Given that most of the vines grow in the class

[Editor's note: Find all of Terry's Tea Thoughts here. ] Don’t expect the explicit muscatel “attack” we had with the 2024s. I liked that, it was fun, but at times it was so uniform it felt like it was grafted on. Still, the few ’24 teas I have left are a reminder of why the term “muscatel” exists at all; the teas can be overtly grapey. I noticed its absence when the first ‘25 teas arrived, and thought it might be a problem, but these teas have deeper and more inscrutable tric

I have to say Spain was great except for when I got locked into a public toilet in San Sebastián and the police had to be called to spring me loose. It began innocently enough; Karen had used the thing and held the door open for me to follow, but as I was standing over the bowl and starting to whizz I was suddenly sprayed with a cleaning material from nozzles in the ceiling, so I jumped back and had a moment of “WTF” and then the floor nozzles opened up and sprayed my shoes,

Of course, it being Nikolaihof there will be a panoply of vintages, many of them old or at least mature. This was the best culling among the wines I tasted at the estate five months ago, as this is an estate where gazing forward makes more sense than looking backward. That is, for the wines as such. The estate retains its dignity and gravitas, but in recent years some wines slipped out of the cradle, and one never knew how things would be. This problem is most of the way to

They are scant in number, and Christoph seemed apologetic at the paucity of high-Prädikat wines.   By now the entire 2024 vintage from Schaefer is on the market, so I know I am out-of-date, but I felt it best to wait – these are the last samples from the bunch I received many months ago – in order to give the wines a chance to calm down. I have come to a wariness with 2023, both in Germany and Austria, and often find it a troubled vintage whose nature can be exacerbated by 

As you may have gleaned, I’m a guy with views. Some of them are irritable, others are approving. A few are both.   Here’s an example....

“At last,” because I haven’t been able to taste these properly (at home) since I started these tastings in 2021. I did speed-taste twice...

At last I’m able to help out a seriously worthy grower commercially, apart from my evangelizing on their behalf. The lovely Pinot Noirs...