A giant Mosel riesling that defies all the regular categories and stands tall alone at high noon. Immensely concentrated and extremely pure this is just beginning its long journey into the future of Planet Wine where a lucky few will praise its complete originality. Barely off-dry balance, but these words don’t really tell you much about this masterpiece. Limited production. Drink or hold.

Picked mid-October at 96° Oechsle, the 2022 Zeltinger Schlossberg Riesling Auslese Schmitt is still pretty reductive on the deep, precise and flinty nose. Lush and savory on the palate, this is a refreshing, clear and vivacious, grippy and tensioned Riesling from 43-year-old vines in a south-facing but open-to-the-wind vineyard. The finish is intense and stimulating, and after a decade—or better, two—this should be an excellent gastronomic wine for even meat dishes. 7% stated alcohol plus 99.8 grams per liter of residual sugar. Natural cork. Tasted at the domaine in November 2023. -SR

The 2022 Riesling Zeltinger Schlossberg Auslese Schmitt is fully south-facing and located on the lower mid-slope. The nose is still dominated by funky reduction. The juicy palate unites herbal savor, candied apple, vivid red apple, Reine Claude plum and ripe peach. This is lively, aromatic, shimmering with these various fruits and adding a little herbal spice such as crushed yarrow and fine slate. Vivid and lasting with 99g/L of residual sweetness. (Sweet) (Drink between 2025-2060)