On Mar 6, 7:47�pm, "Si Beer" > wrote:
> I received this email from, my good friend, Johannes Selbach of
> Selbach-Oster. I have read many good thing in this group about his wines and
> thought you might be interested about his philosophy and approach to making
> outstanding Rieslings. I have had the privilege knowing the family for many
> years and what he writes is from the heart. This is a rather long piece, but
> I think it is worth reading.
>
> Hello �Chip,
> hello Si,
>
> since this touches on a few topics that are occasionally asked about, I am
> forwarding my answers to a Riesling related questionnaire ( with emphasis on
> Selbach-Oster ) for your information. �Thought you might be interested as
> this can be useful background info.
>
> Hope all is well with you and your families. No Easter visit this
> year...we'll be missing Florida.
>
> Best,
>
> Johannes
>
> ---------------------------------------------------------------------------�-----
> Von: Johannes Selbach ]
> Gesendet: Donnerstag, 6. M�rz 2008 22:51
> An: '
> Cc: Johannes Selbach )
> Betreff: WG: Selbach-Oster questions
>
> March 6th, 2008
>
> Hello Kirstin,
>
> sorry for the long pause but it was difficult to find a quiet moment.
> Wow, what a questionnaire ! �To do it justice, I'd have to retreat in some
> undisturbed space for quite some time to give you all the answers. Not
> having this opportunity of peace and quiet ( a number of my best customers
> is visiting these days ), I hope you will accept my shortened version....
>
> Please find my answers in your text below.
>
> Best regards,
>
> Johannes Selbach
>
> ---------------------------------------------------------------------------�-----
> Von: Kirstin Jackson ]
> Gesendet: Montag, 11. Februar 2008 19:23
> An:
> Betreff: Selbach-Oster questions
>
> Dear Mr. Johannes Selbach-
>
> My name is Kirstin Jackson Ellis. We met towards the end of the Vienna Wine
> Company and Terry Theise tasting in San Francisco, where I told you that I
> have a wine and food pairing blog on which I'd love to feature an interview
> with you. Perhaps you remember that you asked whether my name was German (my
> background is mainly Norwegian).
>
> Well, you graciously said yes to an interview. So what I'm including below
> are the questions that I'd like you to answer for my blog. Once you answer,
> I'll post the interview.
>
> I would very much like to thank you in advance for taking the time to answer
> these questions. I feel very privileged to have this chance to interview one
> of my favorite winemakers, and I feel very lucky to be able to share this
> experience with my readers. Your Rieslings have always been an inspiration
> to me. Lastly, I know that you are a busy man and I will be happy to receive
> your response whenever you have time to attend to my questions.
>
> Thank you so much, and here is a link my food and wine pairing blog (it's
> pretty lighthearted) is case you want to take a look:
> vindelatable.blogspot.com.
>
> Sincerely,
> Kirstin
>
> INTERVIEW QUESTIONS:
>
> Although more people in the U.S. are developing tastes for German Rieslings,
> some still insist that they "don't drink sweet wines." How would you respond
> to a statement like this? What are these people missing?
>
> The word "insist" hints of stubbornness and that is too bad because it
> precludes giving anything but what they think they know a try. With that
> attitude we'd all still be eating maccaroni & cheese or sausages with kraut
> and would never have discovered the intricacies of Asian cuisine or the
> delight of "raw fish", sashimi or sushi.
>
> First, what is the definition of "sweet" ? Is a soda pop, sweetened with
> corn syrup or a diet pop sweetened with aspartame or another sweetener sweet
> ?? Most likely everyone would agree that such a beverage is sweet, very
> sweet.
> Is a September apple, plucked ripe from the tree sweet, �... or a peach in
> July, �... or a vine ripened tomato from the garden in August ? The answer
> will also be yes. Is there a difference between sweetness in root beer and
> in vine ripened fruit ? I believe even the most stubborn " I don't drink
> sweet wines" blockhead would agree.
> At the same time that people insist they don't like "Riesling" they reflect
> on their experiences with artficially sweetened beverages ( or food ) and
> forget that the quality of an "un-dry" wine with varying degrees of residual
> sugar, as long as it is balanced, has nothing to do with that feared thickly
> sweet, cloying sensation.
>
> Myself, often confronted with this rather silly ( because it shows people
> haven't tried many Rieslings, leave alone good ones ) � prejudice, usually
> ask them two questions:
> One, whether they eat fruit.
> Two, if they do, whether they prefer their strawberries green and their
> peaches hard or rather red and juicy.
> I cringe when I imagine that these people think the poor, usually cheap most
> likely sweetened wines they had ( be they Rieslings or blends ) are "it".
> Riesling, like no other grape, is capable of showing the full spectrum of
> dryness/sweetness from bone dry to very sweet and everything inbetween. Fine
> Rieslings, like no other grape, can weave the wine's natural sweetness,
> derived from ripe fruit ( not added ), into the multitude of aromatic
> expressions �this delicately aromatic grape offers ( depending on where
> grown, how cropped, when and how picked ) �and pack it into an always
> noticeable, sometimes vibrant, sometimes juicy acidity that leaves the mouth
> salivating in the finish even after it has tasted �a touch of sweetness
> upfront.
> That's a long, complex sentence and doesnt come close to describing the
> sensation a fine, balanced fruity Riesling leaves on the palate.
> Pity for those who think they know it all and who, after possibly a bad
> experience with a cheap specimen, don't give their tastebuds another
> chance....
> When it comes to Riesling, balance is the key. And a well balanced Riesling
> has almost always won determined Rielsing avoiders over into the Riesling
> camp as believers. You watch....
>
> Long answer to a short question. !
>
> THE RIESLING GRAPE AND SELBACH-OSTER
>
> Your family has been making Riesling since 1661 and are said to be
> traditionalists. Have there been many advances in winemaking within the past
> 20-30 years that you have incorporated within your practices, or have you
> found that the way your family crafted high-end Rieslings for centuries is
> the way you will continue making your wine indefinitely?
> Some but no radical changes. Most notable changes have occurred with the
> canopy management, certainly the reduction of yields and the sanity of vines
> and fruit. Less is more is a simple formula and it works well, also
> concerning our "input".
> The overall vineyard work itself has become a bit more labour intensive,
> with more attention paid to smaller details. Everything has become
> "greener", geared towards a more organic approach though with the reality of
> viticulture on very steep slopes in a narrow river valley we are still
> "conventional".
>
> The Riesling Grape is considered one of the finest grapes in the world, but
> demands a fair amount of attention from the winemaker. What are just a
> couple of the hardships Selbach-Oster experiences trying to cultivate
> Riesling that you believe people working with other grapes may not
> encounter?
> Sorry but I beg to differ: The winemaking part is the less important part as
> there is not so much "making" in the cellar necessary but the quality of
> Riesling is rather determined in the vineyard. For obvious reasons, the
> place, the soil, the mezzo- and microclimate are of the utmost importance
> but apart from those, the differences are huge when comparing viticultural
> practices throughout the year and, now comes the most important part, the
> harvest.
> For me, the vineyard work has to be planned and executed with a certain
> quality and type of Riesling in mind. Then, of course, Nature has to
> cooperate but it all culminates in the harvest. �How to harvest ( when to
> pick, where to pick, what to pick and how to pick ) is immensely important..
> How one handles the chosen fruit and how one processes fruit and juice are
> of equal importance. �Of course one needs to know what's needed in the
> cellar but the simple �formula applies : The better the raw ingredient, i.e.
> fruit, the better ( potentially ) the end result, the wine.
> Inbetween one has plenty of opportunity to screw this up but if gently
> pressed juice from top quality grapes runs into the barrel, most of the
> groundwork for delicious Riesling has already been laid. No need to spend
> sleepless nights over the choice of forest for the oak or how it's been
> dried and which toast the barrels need. No need to worry about whether or
> not or when to induce a malolactic fermentation. The fruit is "it" and the
> purer, the better.
> Hardships occur when the weather doesn't want to play in tune. Hardships
> also occur when we gamble for 100% and overshoot the "perfect" day for
> picking a certain vineyard when the grapes have reached heir optimum.
>
> It's said that Riesling truly expresses the terrior where its planted. You
> have many vineyards from which your grapes come. Which vineyards most
> expresses their terrior in the final product?
> I firmly believe that Riesling truly expresses the terroir and have had
> ample opportunity to put this to the test.
> However, caution is to be exercised: "Terroir" has become a buzzword and
> that horse has almost been ridden to death.
> If there is too much "winemaking", forget abut terroir because many manmade
> interventions from aroma-inducing enzymes to the choice of yeast or new oak
> can override the terroir - and so does too much of a usually good thing -
> botrytis.
> Overcropping, over- and underripeness each override much if not all of the
> terroir.
> Where we make wines, in the heart of the Mosel, the vines thrive in a
> mineral rich, relatively soft and crumbly soil that is very old and dates
> back to the Devonian age, some 450 to ...
>
> read more �

I'll add my thanks for this, great reading!