Lyle Fass

Founder Fass Selections

9.3

Unreal wine. Gorgeous nose. Honey, tangelo, confectionery aromas, perfumed and elegant, palate is elegant, mineral and honeyed, sappy and elegant. Complex. Really fine. Intensely flavored but also so fine. Long finish. — 2 days ago

with Nicolas

Jakub Kalinowski

9.1

Quit fruit with sweet raspberry & strawberry and a touch of cream. A whiff of honeyed almonds as well. On the palate very juicy and with great purity, the fruit gives way to the elegant, filigrane structure. Great length and a finish full of energy. A great wine. — a month ago

Fauxakim

8.9

Rather fab this. — 2 months ago

Matthew Cohen

9.4

Maybe the best white wine qpr on earth. Mineral. Balanced. Lovely fruit. Bought from fass selections. — 4 months ago

Lyle Fass

Founder Fass Selections

9.5

What a nose. I love 15 here and decided to check in. Huge mineral and honeysuckle. Acacia and so floral. So wonderful. Palate is ripe and rich with scintillating 2015 acids and an amazing dense mouthfeel and texture. Huge structure and explosiveness while also being refined and superbly mineral throughout. Juicy and honeyed with a hint of nougat on the finish. So pure balanced and long. Stunning. Just a zen like balance here and the wine vibrates on your palate. — 25 days ago

Jakub Kalinowski

9.5

2018 Großes Gewächs tasting
Quite open already, with some shy apricot & floral aromas... on the palate rounder yet with the amazing mineral acidity you’d expect. A white tea mouthfeel as well. Already drinkable but will hold for years to come. Beautiful. — a month ago

Meg Herring

9.2

Quickly becoming my favorite German producer! — 4 months ago

Tom Casagrande

9.4

This is ridiculously good. Intense nose. Honey, smoldering cracked stones, peach pit, crisp apple. Vivid bone dry flavors. So minerally. Mouth-watering acids, tremendous length. — 23 days ago

Jordan Wardlaw

9.3

This 2014 is a lovely Spätburgunder with lots of Burgundian character. Showy fruit on the nose (cherry, rhubarb, orange peel) with hints of anise, bergamot and baking spice. Very Chambolle-like. Outstanding. — 25 days ago

Aaron Tan

9.1

Wish I could tell you that I tasted the TBA, but silly me (and CW) decided we'd wait until we've tasted all the drier wines before moving on to this... then poof! None left. Sigh. Heard that it's amazing though and the hammer price seems to indicate so - 1020€ 0.375L, 2750€ 0.75L, and 18000€ 1.5L. Insane!

As for the GG, that I did taste. Again, take my notes with a grain of salt given how brief the occasion was. Very fruit driven, ranging from yellow stone fruits to exotic fruits, both on the nose and palate. Nose is beautifully touched by herbal notes. Noticeable sweetness on the palate. Excellent acidity, but I felt the finish was somewhat muted by a touch of warmth in the finish. Needs time to bring more balance. I thought it was a good GG, but trumped by the 18' ADL that it was tasted with on both occasions. 200€ 0.75L

NB: The usual suspects (at least for me) delivered the best dry rieslings at the Nahe VDP auctions. Some brief notes and in order of my favourites:

1) Emrich-Schonleber 18' Auf der Lay: My wine of the auction. Such a beautiful nose - Stone fruits, citrus, just the right amount of greenness (fresh cut herbs and grass), and a real chalky feel. The palate is just so saline, intense, deep, and balanced. Amazing drive. Almost as good as the 17'! 270€ 1.5L and 720€ 3.0L

2) Philipp Kuhn 18' Philippsbrunnen: Wow wow! Surprise of this auction. Precise, elegant, juicy, and so mineral. The nose is airy and cool. Multi-layered palate with sufficient extract. Gentle power comes to mind with this wine. I absolutely adored it and definitely one of the best buys this auction. 105€ 0.75L

3) Keller 18' Pettenthal: What can I say? The terroir is just so strong (taste any producer producing Pettenthal and you'll know) and KP does a great job at turning up the dial to 150%! Admittedly, the doesn't have the electricity of the 17' :( 800€ 0.75L

4) Wagner-Stempel 18' EMT: Better than the 17' I feel, but definitely still on the austere side. Some noticeable phenolics on the palate, but the density and depth is just plain impressive. Excellent value if you ask me. 100€ 0.75L

Lastly, something needs to said about the Wittmann La Borne and Battenfeld-Spanier Zellertal Kreuzberg - I don't get why people are paying so much for these wines (270€ and 210€ respectively). — 12 days ago