Last September Ewald Moseler of Moseler Selections invited the entire staff of Guy du Vin to the wine auctions in Germany. Ewald is a local importer and distributor of German and Austrian wines. If you live in Oregon and have tasted any great wine from either of those two countries, the chances are that Ewald is the one that brought it into the state. We decided to incorporate a return visit to Austria with a visit to two of the auctions in the Mosel.

Germany has four major regional auctions, and they attract wine lovers from all over the world. Two of the auctions are in the Mosel, one in Bernkastel and one in Trier. The winemakers offer their most extraordinary wines for these events. The auctions give the market a pretty good indication of who was successful in the current vintage.

The auctions are not only promotional events they are commercial auctions as well. The estates often garner huge prices for some of their wines. Only a select few estates are allowed to participate. In the not too distant past, all of the wine produced at these estates was sold at auction. Today, most are sold through regular distribution channels. Only a few limited-production wines are reserved for the auctions.

Anyone can attend, provided you get your ticket in time. There is a tasting in the morning where you can meet and talk to the winemakers. The auction takes place in the afternoon and each wine is poured again as it's being auctioned (the logistical feat of serving one-ounce pours to 300 people in just a couple of minutes is worth seeing). You don't bid directly, however. You have to connect with an importer who attends the auctions or with one of the official commissioners who do the actual bidding.

We were fortunate to be seated across the table from Hans Selbach at the auction in Bernkastel. Hans is the father of Johannes Selbach of Weingut Selbach-Oster. The ancestors of the Selbach family have been cultivating Riesling since 1661. Today, Johannes Selbach and his wife Barbara run the winery with passion for the wines and with respect for long tradition. Johannes still can rely on the advice of his father, Hans, who built the business before him.

Hans is one of the auction commissioners, a role passed to him from his father and that Hans will pass on to Johannes. He is also one of the most charming and engaging people we have ever met, although we didn't discover that until after the auction. (We share a common love of great sausage.) I won't go into any of the Byzantine details of how the German wine auctions work. But it is a strange combination of men in suits performing mime with lots of shrugs, hand signals and nods, as well as long boring speeches in a language one barely understands, intense pressure, and fun.

To make a long story even longer....

As I stated earlier, each wine is re-tasted just before it is auctioned. When the wine from Kanzlerhof came around I tasted it and thought it was exceptionally good, especially when I looked at the asking bid. It was one of the less expensive wines up for auction. (Some of the wines get prices into the thousands of euros per bottle.) I thought to myself, this is an incredible wine for the price. Just as that thought was going through my head, I glanced over at Hans Selbach and I happened to see him taste the wine. His eyes closed, his eyebrows went up, his eyes opened, his head cocked to the right and I saw him turn to his assistant, nod his head and whisper something to him.

I immediately leaned forward and asked Ewald if we could bid on a few cases. Ewald consulted with Hans who then started some of the bewildering hand motions and gestures mentioned above. After a few moments we were the proud owners of our very own Riesling. I remember Hans looking at me and smiling a big smile and saying in his heavy German accent, "This wine is very good. You made a good choice, one of the best today". Needless to say that took quite a bit of the worry out of the purchase for me. 

So now Guy du Vin is offering this exclusive wine to you. Quantities are extremely limited. It is available only through Guy du Vin in the United States.