Germany
2021 Dr. Wagner - Ockfener Bockstein Kabinett
Alc: 8% - residual sugar: 42,0 g/ltr – acidity: 7,9 g/ltr.
The single vineyard site “Ockfener Bockstein” is a
guarantee for filigree and “powerful” wines. this
vineyard site is also a classified VDP “Große Lage”,
out of which you can also vinify Große Gewächse. On
the palate you will find floral aromas and acacia honey
and nuances of vineyard peach. The subtle
sweetness is vibrant and fresh. In combination with
the racy acidity the Ockfener Bockstein Riesling
Kabinett make really fun. The palate is encased of
fine sweetness, so that you have a fine and long finish
2024 Emrich-Schonleber - Halenberg Grosses Gewachs (750ml)
The Halenberg is often considered, along with the Auf der Ley (offered only through the German auctions) the most structured and densest and most monumental of the Grand Crus from Schönleber. It is certainly a stony and dense wine; there is always more weight, more push and depth to the Halenberg. If the Frühlingsplätzchen is a dancer, the Halenberg is a monolith – its power is its presence, and vice-versa. In youth there is both more fruit and more mineral, compared to Frühlingsplätzchen. This is one of the most statuesque and substantial GGs out there, perhaps akin to Keller’s Morstein in density and structure.
Compared to the Frühlingsplätzchen, the Halenberg is rounder and riper – at least on first opening. There is more depth, more raw and pushing citrus fruit; the register feels more yellow than green. On the palate too, while the minimalist aesthetic of Schönleber is there, the wine feels more textural, both more fruity and more mineral. On day two the wine goes full 360 and shuts down completely: the nose is like smelling the cold purity of space (albeit with maybe a tinge of Meyer lemon?) It is haunting and the reputation of the wine begins to make sense only after 24+ hours open, holy hell. This is a brilliant wine, severe, coating, dense with concentration. Wow. This is an immense wine that needs hours/days to unfurl if you are drinking sooner and will certainly age for a decade or two or longer.
-Importer notes (Vom Boden)
2024 Emrich-Schonleber - Fruhlingsplatzschen Grosses Gewachs (750ml)
This is the Grand Cru sites with what I think is the greatest name out there – pronounced “Froooh-lings-PLATS-shen.” Go ahead and say it, it’ll make you feel good. It translates, roughly, to “little place of spring.” While the Halenberg is the denser, more monumental wine, with likely more stuffing and structure to age longer, I’ll admit the Frühlingsplätzchen is my favorite. There, I said it. I just love the soaring aromatics, the sharpness of the wine, the linear lightness and delicacy. They are rarely about fruit as much as they are about a saline quality, mineral and flower. This is a superb, superb GG that dances on the palate like a good old Spätlese Trocken… even Kabinett Trocken?
Importer notes (Vom Boden)
2024 Emrich-Schonleber - Niederberg Kabinett (750ml)
The 2024 Riesling Monzinger Niederberg Kabinett is full of stone and lemon aromas on the nose. Citrus takes the lead on the palate, with its exquisite zestiness and tender sweetness that rounds it out. This remains essentially refreshing, exciting and ...
2023 Haag, Fritz - Brauneberger Juffer Sonnenuhr Spatlese (750ml)
The 2023 Riesling Brauneberger Juffer Sonnenuhr Spätlese opens with a smoky aspect followed by tangerine vivaciousness. This aromatic notion of tangerine peel plunges into sweetness, filling the senses and expanding with sweet freshness. Lovely balance...
NV Hild Elbling Brut (750ml)
The Obermosel: no story is told, untile someone tells it
The Upper Mosel has nothing to do with Riesling and nothing to do with slate. Instead, we find limestone. The Upper Mosel in fact represents the beginning (or the end?) of the Paris Basin, the geological reality that informs places like Chablis and Sancerre. Instead of Riesling, in the Upper Mosel we find a winemaking culture based on one of Europe’s oldest grapes: Elbling. It’s important to understand that Elbling here feels like something of a religion. It’s a culture, a regional dialect that is spoken through this wine of rigorous purity, of joyous simplicity, of toothsome acidity. The joy of Elbling is the uncompromising vigor and energy, the raucous and super-chalky acidity. Matthias Hild, who farms about six hectares in the sleepy town of Wincheringen, told me that back in the 1980s, when he’d have an Elbling clock in at less than 8.5 grams acid, he’d taste it and question if it was Elbling at all. Which is sort of like saying you’re not sure the music is loud enough because your ears aren’t bleeding.
Vines for the Sekt are from within 4km of Wincheringen. After harvest the Sekt goes through a 21-day cold fermentation in stainless steel. After malolactic fermentation the wine is stored on it’s lees for 9-18 months until disgorgment. Dosage is 10-12g/L.
-Importer notes (Vom Boden)
2024 Hofgut Falkenstein - Krettnacher Euchuchariusberg Spatlese #5 Forster (750ml)
2024 Hofgut Falkenstein - Krettnacher Euchuchariusberg Kabinett Alte Reben #8 Gisela (750ml)
2024 Hofgut Falkenstein - Ockfener Bockstein Kabinett Alte Reben #22 Mia (750ml)
