Saarstein Pinot Blanc 2007
87 points, eRobertParker.com, 11/09
“As usual for this bottling, the 2007 Pinot Blanc from Schloss Saarstein manages to combine a subtly creamy texture with juicy refreshment, featuring fresh apple, cherry, and hazelnut, with hints of stone and salt informing the finish. As such, it is both a typical representative of its grape and recognizable denizen of the Saar. Proprietor Christian Ebert maintains that even the few hours he allows the juice to stand in the press and thus macerate is critical to the full expression of this grape in particular. This will prove versatile over at least the next 2-3 years.”
Saarstein Riesling QbA 2007
88 points, Wine Spectator, 11/15/08
“A brisk, electric white, with peach, ripe apple and mineral flavors vibrating off the laserlike structure. It’s light-weight and leaves a tangy impression.”
Saarstein Riesling QbA 2007
88 points, The Fine Wine Review, Issue #122
“The wine is almost Spatlese sweet. The wine shows wet stones in the nose and is mineral with lime and yellow peach flavors in the mouth.”
Saarstein Riesling 2007
87 points, eRobertParker.com, 11/09
“The 2007 Riesling Saarstein A.P. #5 – representing Schloss Saarstein’s principle bottling for the U.S. market, and a very good value – is full of juicy peach and lime, bracing and invigorating not only for its ripe acidity but also its sense of fruit skin chew and saline and stony mineral notes. It should be lovely for at least the next couple of years. For this wine, Christian Ebert utilizes contracts with his immediate neighbors and oversees their viticultural regimen as well as organizing the fruit’s picking. In order to have a tank big enough to render just a single cuvee, he began this year trucking the relevant lots to another facility where he can oversee the blending, with the result that this is officially a “Kellerei” bottling, although vinified entirely at the estate, from fruit grown to the estate’s exacting standards.”
Schloss Saarstein Riesling Kabinett 2007
91 points, The Fine Wine Review, Issue #122
“Stony and mineral in the nose, the wine is firm with some succulence from the acidity in the mouth – very impressive for 2009 on.”
Schloss Saarstein Riesling Kabinett 2007
90 points, Wine Spectator, 11/30/08
“Plump and juicy, yet with a vibrant structure underneath. This sets the stage for peach, grapefruit and stone flavors that persist through the long finish.”
Schloss Saarstein Riesling Kabinett 2007
88 points, eRobertParker.com, 11/09
“Fresh lime, grapefruit, cherry, heliotrope, and honeysuckle in the nose of the 2007 Serriger Schloss Saarstein Riesling Kabinett leads to a juicy and vivacious if decidedly sweet palate with lip-smacking persistence and subtle salt and stone. This should remain satisfying for at least 6-8 years. The quality of fruit here is analytically little different from that which informs the generic estate Riesling, says Ebert, but the critical difference in his opinion is the older age of vine.”
Schloss Saarstein Riesling Kabinett Feinherb 2007
87 points, eRobertParker.com, 11/09
“The 2007 Serriger Schloss Saarstein Riesling Kabinett Feinherb features cherry, lime, and suggestions of wet stone, uncannily combining a palpable sense of extract with delicacy and lift. Both the aromas and finish here are rather demure, but satisfying, and I would anticipate at least 4-5 years of versatile enjoyment.”
Schloss Saarstein Riesling Spatlese 2007
89 points, eRobertParker.com, 11/09
“The 2007 Serriger Schloss Saarstein Riesling Spatlese A.P. #7 bears the olive-colored triptych label that the estate utilizes for dry-tasting (though most often legally halbtrocken) offerings, and the back label refers to the estate’s oldest vines, planted in 1943, which always inform their dry-style Spatlese. High-toned cherry-almond and Normandy cider aromas lead to a juicy, refreshingly lemon-laced palate with a decidedly stony sense of mineral underpinnings. In fashion typical for the better wines of its vintage, this comes off as light and lithe, belying its 13% alcohol. This was in fact picked on the cusp of Beerenauslese must weight, and when its fermentation petered out in February, says Ebert, he pulled the plug on it, satisfied that there was no need to push it into legally trocken territory and risk the effects of fermentative intervention and higher alcohol. This impressively intense, lively and buoyant Riesling should prove versatile for at least the next 6-7 years.”
Schloss Saarstein Riesling Spätlese 2007
92 points, Wine Enthusiast, EDITORS’ CHOICE, 8/09
“This wine’s initial aromatics come across as rather subdued, but give them some time and they begin to unfurl into minerally billows of slate and citrus. This shows the crisp, tight structure of the Saar—it’s a tightly coiled spring of green apple and citrus fruits around a core of minerality.”
Schloss Saarstein Riesling Spatlese 2007
91 points, Wine Spectator, 10/31/08
“Vibrant and focused, with candied berry and citrus flavors and a flinty accent. On the lean side now, with an intense yet slightly raw finish Needs time to come together.”
Schloss Saarstein Riesling Spatlese 2007
88 points, Tanzer, Jan/Feb 09
“White peach, ripe cherry and nut oils on the nose. Crisp apple fruit shows just enough creamy sweetness to assure an appealing finish.”
Schloss Saarstein Riesling Spatlese Feinherb 2007
88 points, Tanzer, Jan/Feb 09
“Smoky aromas of muskmelon and ripe pear. Zesty apricot pit and fruit flavors complemented by persistent spice. A salty
minerality enlivens the off-dry finish.”
Schloss Saarstein Riesling Spatlese Feinherb 2007
90 points, eRobertParker.com, 11/09
“A 2007 Serriger Schloss Saarstein Riesling Spatlese feinherb was picked the last day of harvest (October 27), in a parcel next to the estate’s oldest vines, after botrytis fruit had been removed for a Spatlese of higher residual sugar. The result is strikingly fusil and wet stone-inflected, and full of nutty richness as well as fresh lime, grapefruit, and cherry. A tactile sense of stony mineral density persists into the wine’s incisive, invigorating, and (at 28 grams residual sugar) superbly balanced finish. I expect this will be worth following for the better part of a decade.”
Schloss Saarstein Riesling Auslese 2007
90 points, Wine Spectator, Winespectator.com 2009
“Loads of orange mark this light, bracing white. Concentrated, yet tight and jangly now, with the acidity dominating. It's difficult to see where this is going, with the sweet and tart contrast.”
Schloss Saarstein Riesling Auslese Gold Capsule 2007
92 points, Tanzer, Jan/Feb 09
“Golden yellow. Full-blown aromas of pink grapefruit, caramel and white pepper. The expansive tropical fruit flavors show verve and spice in spite of the honeyed botrytis. Dense but clean and refreshing on the finish.”
Schloss Saarstein Riesling Auslese Gold Capsule 2007
91 points, eRobertParker.com, 11/09
“The 2007 Serriger Schloss Saarstein Riesling Auslese Gold Capsule represents a tiny lot – from more than half thoroughly botrytized berries – destined for auction. The juicy refreshment and lime and grapefruit citrus character that prevailed in the lower Pradikat echelons at Schloss Saarstein this vintage is not in the least sacrificed here, but instead harnessed to honeyed richness and nectarine preserves. A persistently saline savor adds to the allure of a fine, subtle, buoyant finish. This should be worth following for more than two decades.”