Lyle Fass

Founder Fass Selections

9.8

The nose is utter madness and already operating at a perfect level. Lanolin, hand lotion, plantain, sweet lime juice, lemon zest, complex pear, apple, wild mint, birthday cake and an almost Northern Rhône-like richness, all filtered through the crystalline atmosphere of the Mosel. Unbelievably deep and complex, yet elegant enough to feel like vapor. The palate is stunning, with much more acidity and freshness than when I tasted it in summer 2023, along with tremendous purity, grip, juiciness, finesse and perfect balance. The finish is extraordinarily long. Still showing some inverted architecture and clearly needs time to fully open, but the raw material is monumental. The nose is a 10, perhaps more. The palate keeps the wine at 9.8 for now. — 15 hours ago

Lyle Fass

Founder Fass Selections

9.5

Deeply red-fruited, meaty and sauvage, but also precise. The palate has real Burgundy velvet, with extraordinary tiny-berry concentration, sweet ripe tannins and tremendous fruit intensity. There is noticeable new wood, placing it stylistically somewhere in the Méo-Camuzet or Lucien Le Moine camp: luxurious, polished and sheerly delicious. Less transparently Fixin than the Philippe Naddef bottlings, but outrageously compelling Pinot Noir. I drank it more than I tasted it, which says everything. Retasting tonight. — 6 days ago

Lyle Fass

Founder Fass Selections

9.3

Austere, almost fruitless nose of dry limestone and intense mineral. The palate is far more generous, with juicy concentration, apricot, peach pit and terrific texture, all cut by huge acidity. Love the tension between the severe mineral exterior and the ripe fruit underneath. Finishes a little short, but this is serious, delicious and completely on the Kalkstein line. — 8 days ago

Lyle Fass

Founder Fass Selections

9.3

Quiet but very good nose of sour cherry, spice, flowers, a touch of reduction and something faintly like malted milk balls. The palate is where the wine lives, with huge acidity, tremendous tiny-berry concentration, real savor, density and all-red fruit. There is a Burgundy 2023-like chord progression to the fruit, with sweetness building through the mid-palate and a long, energetic finish. Powerful and impactful, almost GG-like in scale, but it lacks the finesse, polish, balance and purity of the 2019, 2020, 2021 and 2022. Very good, but not one of the great vintages. — 3 days ago

Lyle Fass

Founder Fass Selections

9.8

A ridiculously stunning Pinot Blanc and the leanest, most tensile vintage I have tasted from Adank. The nose is pure and beautifully articulated, with apples, pears and subtle mineral complexity. The palate is breathtaking, with crystalline purity, unbelievable concentration and density, nervous acidity and monumental linear architecture. It has the structural authority of a great twenty-year-old Pinot Blanc, yet remains so juicy, elegant and alive that it practically dances across the palate. Mouthwatering, deeply sapid and driven entirely by finesse, with a finish that lasts nearly a minute and a half. One of the greatest Pinot Blancs I have ever tasted. — 4 days ago

Lyle Fass

Founder Fass Selections

8.8

A disappointing bottle showing extreme maturity and perhaps 40 to 50 percent maderization. Some fruit eventually pokes through, joined by attractive spice, minerality and considerable earth. The palate remains tannic and surprisingly concentrated, suggesting there is still real wine underneath, but the finish is dirty and slightly alcoholic. There is enough persistence to offer some hope with air, but this is not showing well. This is going downhill quickly. Tannins dominating and maderization expanding. Now 8.8 and sinking. — 8 days ago

Lyle Fass

Founder Fass Selections

9.4

A haunting, old-school nose that somehow combines 1960s Cantemerle with forty-year-old Roty Marsannay. Ash, charcoal, ancient wood spice, moss, cranberry bog, red currant, sour early-season cherry and strange purple florals all come together with remarkable depth. The palate begins stern and structured, with hard, old-fashioned tannins that recall mature Bordeaux crossed with the Marsannay and Fixin of thirty years ago, but air brings seduction, sweetness and increasingly gorgeous red fruit. Excellent concentration, entirely red-fruited, with cranberry and sour cherry carrying through an extraordinarily long finish. A true wine of terroir, brooding, feral and deeply compelling. — 3 days ago

Lyle Fass

Founder Fass Selections

9.5

Glorious and fully expressive, with a perfumed nose of flowers, lime zest and slightly confectionery citrus. Beautifully mature but still completely alive. The palate is pure and elegant, densely concentrated yet entirely driven by finesse, with gorgeous minerality, vivid fruit and that crystalline rainwater effect. It dances into a place of perfect balance. Beautiful wine. — 5 days ago

Lyle Fass

Founder Fass Selections

9.4

Much better cool and on the second day. Complex nose of honey, slate, mineral, peach, apricot, porcini, spice and wild mint. The palate is juicy, ripe, honeyed and very pure, with good acidity completely integrated into the wine. The finish initially seems short, then unexpectedly returns and keeps changing, although not in an entirely cohesive way. It is like a 30-minute David Lynch film. Strange, compressed, complex and ultimately compelling. Great mature Auslese. — 8 days ago

Lyle Fass

Founder Fass Selections

9.4

Beautiful, classic Grafenberg. The nose is ripe and generous, led by apple and pear, with peach, apricot and slaty minerality underneath. The palate is juicy, clean and complete, with ripe melon, good acidity and lovely freshness. Everything is balanced and exactly where it should be. Very solid. — 9 days ago