The 2021s are pre-arrival, all others are currently in stock
A little history and some opinion:
It is extraordinary how easily fine German wine is overlooked by American wine collectors and enthusiasts these days. In the nineteenth century, in Victoria's time, they were the most expensive and sought-after wines in the world. The best 'Hock' came from the great Schlosses of the Rheingau, where the busy Rhine makes a rare turn to flow from east to west for a dozen miles before turning north again at Rudesheim to flow on to the sea. The magnificent south facing bank of vineyards is still adorned by these great castles; Schloss Johannisberg, Schoss Vollrads and the like.
They competed for attention and favor with the starkly contrasting Mosel, with its tiny, site-specific household vineyard names, from picture-postcard villages like Piesport, Wehlen or Zelting, nestled into bends in the river winds its tortuous path past steep banks which occasionally offer perfect inclination to the sun, with a variety of complex slate soils: the perfect terroir for razor-sharp but joyfully characterful Riesling.
The C19th rivalry between 'Hock' and 'Mosel' is fascinating and may live on today, though each region has little problem selling their best wines to an eager domestic, and broader European audience, but we owe this chance to delve into this collection to the band of steady, die-hards, who will not give up their quest to conquer this market for Riesling.
Wines from these great producers are not easy to find in Germany, especially with this well-deserved degree of maturity. This is a great opportunity to lay-in a decent stash of truly fine top class Riesling.
If sweetness is a concern, consider this: when in perfect balance, the sweetness is our friend. It balances otherwise unpalatable levels of acidity, which is in turn the zip-line that delivers flavor to the palate. The higher the acid, the more penetrating and persistent the flavor. The higher the sweetness, the higher the acid... there is exquisite balance at all levels of sweetness and with correspondingly low alcohol levels, you will find auslese disappear with incredible ease.
Masters of the Mosel
Fritz Haag, Willi Schaefer and JJ Prum provide about as perfect a triumvirate as you could imagine to demonstrate the differences in style and terroir possible in this magical place. The vineyards in this offer span just a few miles of riverbank, yet the variety in flavors and styles is far more compelling and varied than anything you can find on the Medoc or the Cote d'Or.
Fritz Haag's wines from the Juffer-Sonnenuhr are so pale as to be close to air itself, ethereal would be the word. They are barely colored, with just a faint tint of green to them, and they are are almost light as air too to drink too, but they are exquisite in their balance and elegant perfection.
JJ Prum offers the perfect contrast; the wines are among the richest and most deeply flavored in the Mosel. Their fruit is deeply colorful and intense. Prum is justly held in high regard and a fine ambassador for the region. You will always make a friend pouring a bottle of (JJ) Prum...
Willi Schaefer's style borrows from both, with undoubted elegance and poise, but no shortness of concentration or intensity. Do not imagine they fall between two stools, or lack for character, they are perhaps the best, 'typical Mosel' of all: the benchmark or standard for brilliance in this part of the world.
Fritz Haag
| 2021 |
Brauneberger Juffer Spatlese |
$35 |
12 |
| 2021 |
Brauneberger Juffer Auslese |
$39 |
12 |
| 2021 |
Brauneberger Juffer Sonnenuhr Spatlese |
$39 |
12 |
| 2021 |
Brauneberger Juffer Sonnenuhr Auslese |
$49 |
6 |
| 2021 |
Brauneberger Juffer Sonnenuhr GG |
$55 |
12 |
| 2021 |
Brauneberger Juffer Sonnenuhr Auslese Goldkap 375ml |
$35 |
6 |
| 2013 |
Brauneberger Juffer Sonnenuhr Auslese |
$45 |
10 |
| 1992 |
Brauneberger Juffer Sonnenuhr Auslese #6 |
$75 |
1 |
JJ Prum
| 2005 |
Bernkasteler Badstube Auslese |
$80 |
1 |
| |
|
|
|
Willi Schaefer
| 2021 |
Graacher Feinherb |
$30 |
2 |
| 2021 |
Graacher Trocken |
$29 |
12 |
| |
|
|
|
|
|