Wehlener Sonnenuhr Riesling Auslese
⏳ Drinking Window
2022 - 2045
🍽️ Food & Wine Pairings
blue cheese, spicy Asian cuisine, fruit-based desserts
✨ Technical Specifications
The Wehlener Sonnenuhr, or 'Sundial of Wehlen,' is one of the Mosel's most legendary vineyards, named after the historic sundial erected in 1842 by Jodocus Prüm to help vineyard workers keep time. Selbach-Oster's expression of this iconic site is a masterclass in tension and elegance. Grown on incredibly steep, weathered blue Devonian slate slopes, the 100% Riesling grapes benefit from intense solar reflection off the river and the heat-retaining properties of the soil. Harvested late in the season with a selection of botrytis-affected grapes, this Auslese is fermented with indigenous yeasts and aged in traditional large oak Fuder casks. The result is a wine of breathtaking complexity, marrying luscious sweetness—reminiscent of ripe peach, apricot, and wild honey—with a piercing, mineral-driven acidity that keeps the palate remarkably fresh and vibrant.
🍾 About the Producer
Weingut Selbach-Oster represents over four centuries of winemaking heritage along Germany's Middle Mosel, with family viticultural roots established in 1661. Based in Zeltingen-Rachtig, proprietors Johannes and Barbara Selbach, alongside their son Sebastian, steward approximately 23 hectares of precipitous, south-facing slopes. Their historic holdings encompass quintessential Grand Cru sites including Zeltinger Sonnenuhr, Zeltinger Schlossberg, Zeltinger Himmelreich, Wehlener Sonnenuhr, and Graacher Domprobst. Characterized by weathered Devonian blue and grey slate soils, over half the estate's vines are ungrafted, centenarian rootstocks farmed with rigorous sustainable and low-intervention methods. In the cellar, Selbach-Oster champions unhurried native yeast fermentations carried out in neutral German oak Fuder casks and temperature-controlled stainless steel. The resulting wines—spanning bone-dry Grosses Gewächs bottlings, nuanced Feinherb styles, and pristine Prädikat sweet wines—epitomize classical Mosel tension, showcasing crystalline acidity, wet-slate minerality, pristine orchard fruit, and exceptional longevity.