DostertKarambolage 2021 (750ml)

The word “Karambolage” means “collision” in French; in the Obermosel, for Jonas Dostert, the word describes a wine he makes from a collision of white and red grapes. This is a unique wine for Dostert in that it does have a bit of skin contact: The Elbling is partially whole bunch fermented for 10 days, the Pinot Noir is partially macerated and Chardonnay direct pressed, thus, presumably, the color, described below. The wine for 2021 is 40% Elbling, 35% Pinot Noir and 25% Chardonnay.

The wine is a beautiful color, resembling freshly squeezed peach juice in its pink, fleshy tones delicately washed with salmon. As with all of Dostert’s wines, it is curt and clean, faceted and delicate, yet with a lot of flavor: stony fresh, bright tones of lemon pith, green apple, citrus oils, mineral water, just barely ripe strawberries, even vague hints of cranberry and other red fruits, very perfumed and tart and aromatic. All the notes are dilute and gauzy, yet lingering and present, floating and persistent. This is a beautiful and complex wine that flirts with being raw and Chablis-like, structured and textural like a miniature orange-wine, and red-fruited like a rosé, though it is also not at all like any of those. I love this.