Wine & Spirits - February 2021 - 65

Year's Best Mosel Rieslings
87 | Meulenhof

$20

87 | Dr. Pauly Bergweiler

$20

2019 Mosel Erdener Treppchen Riesling
Kabinett (Best Buy) ^ Sweet with apricot flavors, this is a gentle, ripe Kabinett to chill for
aperitifs. § Skurnik Wines & Spirits, NY
280928
2019 Mosel Bernkasteler Badstube Riesling Kabinett (Best Buy) ^ This balances
its sweet yellow-cherry flavor with a broad,
earthy character. It's simple and balanced,
and finishes quickly. § Winesellers, Niles, IL
280930

87 | Dr. Pauly Bergweiler

$23

2019 Mosel Graacher Himmelreich Riesling Kabinett (Best Buy) ^ This tastes floral and green-of nettles and sage, a hint
of rosemary-rounded out with an earthy
sweetness. It would work well with the fetaflecked greens of a Greek spinach pie. § Winesellers, Niles, IL

S PÄ T L E S E
280794

94 | A.J. Adam

$44

2019 Mosel Hofberg Riesling Spätlese ^ Siblings Andreas and Barbara Adam farm 12
acres in the Dhron River valley, well inland
from the Mosel. They tend the steep slopes
entirely by hand, and their work paid off in
2019 with this Spätlese. It's lithe and lovely,
suffused with sweet peach flavor that's bolstered by lime zest and lemony acidity; it's
detailed with floral notes and citrus-blossom
scents. It feels complete, all of a piece, and
ready for anything-from takeout Vietnamese to a holiday spread with all the fixings. §
Skurnik Wines & Spirits, NY
281008

94 | Maximin Grünhaus

$46

2019 Mosel Abtsberg Riesling Spätlese ^
Abtsberg forms the heart of the Grünhaus
estate, 35 acres of blue Devonian slate on
vertiginous 70-degree slope. In 2019, the
von Schuberts coaxed an excellent Grosses
Gewächs from the site (also recommended
here), and they seem to have hit a particularly sweet spot with this Spätlese. The wine
is shy at first, revealing tight, bright notes of
lemon peel and rock, but give it some air and
it blossoms, developing an orange and peach
richness bolstered by vibrant, electric acidity.
The flavors last, with a slightly saline impression encouraging another sip. § Loosen Bros.
USA, Oregon City, OR
278612

94 | Maximin Grünhaus

$46

2018 Mosel Abtsberg Riesling Spätlese ^
This just sings. A late-harvested selection
of riesling off vines averaging 40 years old,
fermented with ambient yeasts in large oak

casks, it tastes like yellow plums and peaches
at the height of ripeness. The texture is luxurious, a satin ribbon of fruit sweetness carried aloft by equally vibrant acidity. It lasts
with bell-tone clarity, approachable now with
or without food, and structured for aging as
well. (W&S 10/20) § Loosen Bros. USA, Oregon
City, OR
280837

93 | Fritz Haag

$42

2019 Mosel Brauneberger Juffer Sonnenuhr Riesling Spätlese ^ A jazzy acidity
zings through the plump peach-and-plum
fruit in this wine, making it feel buoyant. The
vineyard's sun-drenched red soils read in the
wine's richness as well as the mineral tones
that form its base, while a savory richness
gives it a firm footing and elegant balance. §
Loosen Bros. USA, Oregon City, OR
280943

93 | Willi Schaefer

$58

92 | Fritz Haag

$34

2019 Mosel Graacher Domprobst #5 Riesling Spätlese ^ From a particularly steep,
warm parcel of blue-slate soils in the center
of the Himmelreich vineyard, this is a sleek
and succulent Spätlese. It's long and elegant
with sweet spiced-orange flavors slipping by
along oily wet-slate mineral notes, focused
and reserved. Given time in the cellar to
relax, this should reveal more complexity. §
Skurnik Wines & Spirits, NY
280841
2019 Mosel Brauneberger Juffer Riesling
Spätlese ^ Full but not heavy, round but not
fat, this is textbook Haag Spätlese. It feels
wholesome and generous in its sweet, limey
flavor, yet also refined, circumscribed by a
quinine minerality that gives the wine a firm,
clean line. § Loosen Bros. USA, Oregon City, OR
280906

92 | Meulenhof

$26

91 | Ansgar Clüsserath

$44

2019 Mosel Erdener Treppchen Alte
Reben Riesling Spätlese (Best Buy) ^ Stefan Justen reserves the fruit from his oldest
vines, planted on their own roots, for this
wine. Vinified with ambient yeasts in wooden
casks, it's rich in texture, almost pâte de fruit-
chewy. The sweetness of the pineapple, apple
and nectarine flavors are balanced by a redrock earthiness, ferrous and spicy, the wine
ready for a dry-rubbed pork roast. § Skurnik
Wines & Spirits, NY
280818
2018 Mosel Trittenheim Apotheke Riesling Spätlese ^ From a hallowed hillside on
the right bank of the Mosel, across from the
town of Trittenheim, this wine is holding its
cards close to the vest right now. It's not just
the reductive funk, but also the youthful

energy of the fruit, its tangelo sweetness and
acidity in tandem with herbal spice. It's zesty
and tense, with a grip that suggests tucking
this away for another five to ten years. § M.S.
Walker, Somerville, MA
280907

91 | Meulenhof

$23

90 | Bollig-Lehnert

$17

2019 Mosel Erdener Treppchen Riesling
Spätlese (Best Buy) ^ A delicate minerality dances through this wine, making the
plump apricot flavors feel lithe and fine. Citrusy acidity completes the impression, giving
the wine a chiseled, precise line as it delivers
its sweetness. § Skurnik Wines & Spirits, NY
280807
2006 Mosel Trittenheimer Apotheke Riesling Spätlese (Best Buy) ^ Deep yellow in hue,
this has aged into flavors of nuts, petrol and
lemon confit. What sweetness the fruit had in
its youth has converted to texture, the wine
deep and creamy, with a cashew-like richness. Notes of tea, caraway and dill seed bring
extra savor, and suggest a pairing with something simple, like roast chicken and potatoes. §
Winesellers, Niles, IL
280908

WINE & SPIRITS

IMPORTER OF THE YEAR

Proudly representing
a great little list of legends
Dr. Loosen
Fritz Haag
Maximin Grünhaus
Zilliken
Robert Weil
Wittmann
Villa Wolf
Domaine de Bellene &
Maison Roche de Bellene
Gantenbein
Jim Barry
J. Christopher

loosenbrosusa.com

WINE & SPIRITS
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Wine & Spirits - February 2021

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