"(...) But once, twice, or at most three times in a decade nature is
kind. And in such years the Saar produces a certain number of wines which are,
to my palate, the noblest and most remarkable white wines in the world.
This,
I realize, is not something one should say lightly. Wine experts, after the
fashion of sailors, are supposed to have their loves in every country, and to
promise undying fidelity to each one, impartially, every time they taste it. But
with all due respect to Chateau d'Yquem and to Montrachet, to Marcobrunner and
Imperial Tokay, I still say, give me a perfect Scharzhofberger (or a Wiltinger
or an Ockfener) of a great year.
In these great and exceedingly rare winers
of the Saar, there is a combination of qualities which I can perhaps best
describe as indescribable - austerity coupled with delicacy and extreme finesse,
an incomparable bouquet, a clean, very attractive hardness tempered with a
wealth of fruit an flavour which is overwhelming - and all this in a wine that
hardly exceeds 10 per cent alcohol by volume (whereas Montrachet and Yquem are
rarely under 13 per cent and frequently much higher). Let me say once more that
only the greatest Saar wines deserve this sort of praise, that there is far more
bad Saar wine than good, and that the best is never inexpensive. On the whole,
the wines from the Mittelmosel are a much safer bet. But the Saar ... is the
Saar."