This is our third offer for the lightning-in-a-bottle wines of Jonas Dostert.

There isn't anything wildly new to declare. If anything, our obsession with these wines has only increased.

These are among the most razor-sharp, extreme and bracing wines we import. They feel like they are chiseled directly from a glacier; they are essential, elemental, mineral.

From the sacred 2021 vintage we have a Chardonnay and an old-vine Elbling; from the powerful 2020 vintage we have a chiseled Pinot Noir. Dostert is only farming around two hectares; this offer is one of the only places you are going to see any of these wines.

These are extreme wines and it's true they will not be for everyone. Yet for those of you who crave the mineral austerity of the wines of de Moor, or Stefan Vetter, you will love these wines.

This is admittedly pure conjecture, as I wasn't tasting Chablis on release in the 1980s, but Dostert's wines suggest to me what a great Chablis from Raveneau or Dauvissat, from a solid but not too-ripe vintage in the 1980s might have tasted like on release: stony, raw, primal. There is something about the compact scale of these wines that suggests the cold north.

I've written this before, but for me it is the key to understanding these wines: They represent something of a bridge from the Saar to Burgundy.

This is a lot to wrap one's head around, I understand, but stick with me. As with the best Saar wines, Dostert's bottles have a rawness. The great, mid-twentieth century importer Frank Schoonmaker famously described Saar wines as “indescribable: austerity coupled with delicacy and extreme finesse… an attractive hardness.”

Dostert’s wines flaunt these traits. Drinking directly from a mountain stream is thrilling, but it might hurt too. Things so essential, so distilled, are simply not for everyone.

From the experience and practices of Burgundy the wines receive a most sensitive and delicate élevage. It is subtle, to be sure, but the use of neutral barrels on these wines, the gentle oxidation, is simply masterful. The blend of this raw essential quality, with a tapered finesse reminiscent of Burgundy, is just magical.

It’s both trite and instructive, I think, to point out that Dostert did spend some time in Burgundy, mostly in the cellars of Leflaive working with the barrels (indeed this is where he gets most of his barrels). It’s trite because pointing out something like this seems to imply a very simplistic recipe: “Go to Burgundy, work with Leflaive for a few months and voilà you can make Leflaive!”

Clearly this idea is inane and insulting. These wines have little to no obvious relationship with Leflaive’s wines.

But pointing out this Burgundian perspective is instructive, I think, because as Dostert has told me over and over again, growing up in the Obermosel was a confusing affair. This is essentially a forgotten place, seemingly without a present moment or a history. (I have written extensively about the Obermosel, this limestone-riddled region tucked between the Mosel and Luxembourg. To celebrate "Felbling" - an annual festival of the month of February and Elbling - we even did a podcast this year. If you are interested hearing the podcast click here.)

While the Obermosel is only minutes, a few kilometers away from the Mosel, from the Saar, it has nothing in common with these more famous places. The Mosel and the Saar are a landscape of slate and a temple to Riesling. The Obermosel is the final, profound crescendo of Kimmeridgian limestone as it pours through France and runs into this wall of slate. The Obermosel, because of this limestone, is a culture based on an ancient grape Elbling, and more and more on Chardonnay, Pinot Noir and the other Burgundian varieties.

The deep, deep potential here is obvious to anyone who can stand still long enough to really look at the place. I do not know exactly what the promise of this very special place holds, though I am fairly confident that Jonas Dostert will prove to be one of the most important voices in articulating this greatness. It's already happening.

Jonas Dostert 2021/2020 3-Pack
Each pack includes one bottle of the following; 

We've included the entire Mosel Fine Wines producer summary because it is excellent and concise. This is worth reading:

"Jonas Dostert was quite straightforward in his assessment of the 2021 vintage: 'I am an organic grower and 2021 proved hugely work intensive as the vintage was quite wet. Winter was already wet and brought its share of water into the ground. April and May were moderately hot and, thankfully, we did not see any frost this year. June was the hottest month and I saw already the first impact of disease on the leaves at flowering. July required a lot of work. In the end, I lost 40-50% of my harvest which, given what I got from feedback from some of my organic colleagues, is still quite ok. We started our main harvest in early October and were finished by October 18 with some Elbling, which proved a late-ripening grape in 2021. Despite all the work and stress during the growing season, I would love to have more vintages like 2021: The wines remind me of the old days when they had more acidity, which adds a great sense of tension. I really like this finer style!'

The low yields did have an impact on the collection: The estate will not produce any Pinot Noir in 2021: 'There was simply not enough fruit so I vinified the red grapes in white for the Karambolage bottling.' However, it was able to produce the rest of the collection. Also, it recently released its 2020er Pinot Noir.

Jonas Dostert oversees a tiny estate but his wines are huge and his 2021 collection is easily his best to date. The wines are all vibrating and among the finest ambassadors of their respective grape varieties in Germany. The Elbling Alte Reben lifts this sense of 'delineation with great backward flavors' (that the Elbling grape can offer) to a whole new level. The Pinot Gris is easily the finest we have tasted in Germany (and come to think of it, from anywhere when made in a crisp and bone-dry style). The Chardonnay is still backward but has all the complexity expected of this grape variety. And finally, the 2020er Pinot Noir is just magical and among the very finest we have tasted so far not only from the Mosel, but from Germany. Despite 2021 being only the Estate’s fourth vintage, Jonas Dostert is already one of the bright stars of the region. Bravo!" Mosel Fine Wines, Issue No. 64, December 2022

2021 Dostert Elbling "Alte Reben"
"The 2021er Elbling Alte Reben was made with fruit picked on almost 40-year-old vines and was fermented and aged along natural lines, i.e. without intervention, and was bottled after a rough filtering and with little SO2 added (30 mg/l). This bright white-yellow-colored wine proves still rather backward and only gradually reveals its stunningly complex nose made of white peach, citrusy elements, chalky minerals, fine spices, a hint of herbs, and a dash of flowers. The wine is hugely precise and elegant on the palate and leaves a superb feeling of minerals and zesty fruits in the long finish. The precision, subtlety, and complexity are truly remarkable. What a stunning success!" Mosel Fine Wines, Issue No. 64, December 2022

2021 Dostert Chardonnay
"The 2021er Chardonnay was made from young vines (planted in 2015) and was fermented and aged along natural lines, i.e. without intervention, and was bottled after a rough filtering and with little SO2 added (30 mg/l). This gorgeous bright-colored wine offers a superb nose made of mineral elements, citrusy fruits, subtle spices, and herbs. The wine is gorgeously playful and immensely precise on the palate, where a touch of oak impact is impeccable integrated. The finish is all about freshness and elegance. What a huge success" Mosel Fine Wines, Issue No. 64, December 2022

2020 Dostert Pinot Noir
"The 2020er Pinot Noir was made with whole bunch fruit macerated for 10 days and was fermented and aged along natural lines, i.e. without intervention, in 7-to-8-year-old 228-liter oak barrels from Burgundy before being bottled in April 2022 unfiltered and with little SO2 added (30 mg/l). It offers an absolutely jaw-dropping nose made of juicy scents of cherry, wild strawberry, and blueberry wrapped into a most stunning sense of fine Asian spices and clove. The wine is still subtly tart yet fruity on the palate and leaves a most elegant feel of fine spices and deep ripe red and black-berried fruits in the long finish. The aftertaste is still a tad tart at this stage but proves a tour de force as it is deep yet airy, silky yet firm, and smooth yet focused. What a superb and gorgeously complex expression of Pinot Noir from the Mosel! The difficulty will be to not drink the few rare bottles one will get before this beauty reaches maturity." Mosel Fine Wines, Issue No. 64, December 2022

This offer is now closed. If you need help finding the wines please email orders@sourcematerialwine.com.