Summer Whites: Under $30 Mosel Saar Ruwer

I promised myself I would drink more German wines this year. They give me so much pleasure, at such reasonable price points, it's somewhat strange I haven't done this sooner. I blame it on the tongue-defying regions, names, and producers from Germany -- German taxonomy makes France look simplistic.

While still only a neophyte, I found that sampling a case of these wines with friends over seven days proved to be an effective method (at least for a consumer) of picking out the best. I think I can now fairly say I know what I am looking for from these wines - a briney nose, a touch fuzzy on the palate, with the texture of ice cold oysters in the mouth and just the faintist hints of rose water, honeydue, and apricot.

All wines were purchased at retail in Manhattan and Brooklyn for under $30, most under $20, my favorites listed below in descending order of deliciousness.

2007 Joh. Jos Christoffel Erben Urziger Wurzgarten Riesling Kabinett (Gutsabfullung) *** Sauvignon color with green tint, mildly fizzy, with brine and honey on the nose. Very light in the mouth, with honeydew and warm lard on the finish. Enjoyed this immensely. For great info on this estate, check out the Wine Doctor.

2005 Weingut Clemens Busch Mosel-Saar-Ruwer Pundericher Marienberg Riesling Spatlese (Gustabfullung) *** Pale hay with lemony notes. Melons predominate, honey and brine all present. The acidity is unfelt in the mouth, as is the 13% alcohol. Not at all warm - should age nicely for another five years.

2007 Stein Riesling feinherb (Mosel) ** White gold. Striking nose of apricot and honey. Oyster texture. (Drink up.)

2006 St. Ludwig Mosel-Saar-Ruwer Bernkasteler Kurfurstlay Riesling Spatlese ** Pale gold. Bright honey on the nose. We drank this slightly warm, revealing more pronounced sweet apricot notes with a salty finish. (Maybe we've been drinking these all too cold?)

2008 Weingut Matthias Dostert "Roter Elbling" (Gutsabfullung) ** Pale pink rose, with tart strawberries and mellow apple notes on the finish. (In contrast, we drank this straight from the fridge, too chilled to reveal secondary notes.)

WSJ Focus on High End California Wines

The title of today's Wall Street Journal article "Luxury Wine Market Reels from Downturn" by Jim Carlton and David Kesmodel, pretty much speaks for itself. The nuts and bolts of this story is that Americans are still drinking wine, they're just spending less. The secondary theme seems to be how producers are going to weather the storm. Elliot Stern, chief operating officer of the Sorting Table, a Napa Valley-based wine distributor, is quoted as saying, "If you're a $90 wine and all of a sudden you're on the Internet at $50, how do you ever become a $90 wine again?"

Stern's rhetorical question is a variant of the Veblen Goods Market Theory, which is failing in the current economy.

The simple answer here is to make great wine. Lowering your price to $50 from $90 will allow (some) consumers to continue to buy your wines. It also shows that you're aware of the challenges facing the consumer, who is daily flooded with better deals from overseas. Note: lowering prices in 2008 has only spurred demand for en premeur Bordeaux. As time goes by, and market conditions return to normal, you can increase prices.

Producers such as Claude Blankiet, whose wines I enjoy immensely, but which cost $185 this year despite the "downtown," need to be realistic. Sticking their heads in the sand (keeping prices inflated through a recession) simply won't sell wine. What's worse: it negatively affects the perception of the brand, because it shows the producer doesn't understand -- or care -- about the core consumer.

In short, in this economy, high price does not equal high quality. Cult Wine producers need to redefine and remarket themselves accordingly.

2005 Bodega Sottano JUDAS ****

On my way to pick up some Mosel Saar Ruwer wines the other night I happened upon this tasting of Argentinian wines, featuring not unsurprisingly four malbecs, one cabernet sauvignon, and one blend. I'm no malbec expert, but the Argentinian malbecs I have tried have been generally very good, and good values. The last wine I tasted has been on my mind ever since.

Bodega Sottano only produced 2014 bottles of its "Judas," a 100% malbec from the Finca Sottano Vineyard in Perdriel, Luján de Cuyo, Mendoza, one thousand meters above sea level. Picked by hand in the early hours of the morning, then fermented in 5000 liter stainless steel tanks with "selected yeasts" (seven days cold; 35 days total), Judas was aged in all new oak, 70% French, 30% American, for eighteen months, prior to bottling unfined and unfiltered.

But all of that is back story to how this wine came to be. Bodega Sottano is a partnership of three brothers, Diego, Pablo and Mauricio Sottano, whose roots in Mendoza reach back to their Italian ancestors in 1890. According to the legend I was told by an unquestionably disreputable distributor (wink wink), this wine had originally been intended to serve as the family's "private reserve," but one brother bottled it and released it on his own, thus earning him the name "Judas." Whether the legend is true or not (and I don't believe it) the wine speaks for itself.

Deep plum color; unquestionable vanilla notes predominate on the nose, but the palate is firm and juicy, with blackberries and cream, rounded out by fat sweet tannin. No idea how long to cellar this one; it's hard to resist now.