Mosel Masters: Busch, Vollenweider, Haart, Willi Schaefer, and Stein
11/18/24 -
By no means exhaustive, today's newsletter presents a short list of some of our favorite producers in Germany's Mosel Valley. All of the names above have graced our shelves at various times over the last two decades, and for good reason! They represent a cadre of like-minded producers who are dedicated to preserving old vineyards on steep slopes that were all but abandoned in the age of machine harvesting and conventional, chemical-based farming. They toil and sweat to farm historic vineyards manually, with organic treatments, always harvesting by hand. It's tough work, but for a noble cause, and a small and loyal group of wine enthusiasts around the world get to enjoy the fruits of their labor: exquisite Rieslings from some of the prized parcels in the Mosel! in no particular order, we offer today bottlings from Rita and Clemens Busch, the late Daniel Vollenweider, Julian Haart, Willi Schaefer, and Ulli Stein, all of which should be on your table this holiday season or in your cellar for a future one. -Eben Lillie
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Weingut Clemens Busch
We love Clemens and Rita Busch. Not only do they make some of the most distinctive, unexpected wines of the Mosel Valley, they also have some of the biggest hearts of anyone in the wine world. Their humility and gentle, giving spirit come through in their wines and Clemens’ careful biodynamic stewardship of their land is clearly reflected in the glass.
As a recap, or for those whom aren't familiar with the winery, Clemens Busch hails from the dividing line on the Mosel between the Middle Mosel and the more remote northern Lower Mosel. As per the importer: " The geology here is unique, based on a volcanic formation hundreds of millions of years old, manifested in a long, undulating cliff face that is nothing short of epic. The three main colors of slate (blue, red and grey) are all found here, dominating different parcels along the slopes across the river from the village. Clemens identifies the different terroirs of the original hillside on his labels by their historical names: Fahrlay, Falkenlay, Rothenpfad, Felsterrasse, and Raffes. He further delineates his wines by their soil type, using an ingenious method: the color of the capsule on the bottles indicates the type of slate (blue, gray or red) that dominates the source from which each wine comes." Most importantly, Clemens is considered to be The Master of Biodynamic Viticulture in Germany; converting to organic viticulture in 1984 and then certified Biodynamic in 2005. The majority of Clemens's production is grown on the extremely steep Pündericher Marienburg, a 25 hectare vineyard that spans and entire hillside facing the village of Pünderich. Exposed full South/Southwest and right on the edge of the river, it is widely considered amongst the very best sites in the Mosel.
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Daniel Vollenweider
After spells working in Germany and overseas, the late Daniel Vollenweider started in 1999 with 1.3 hectares in the Wolfer Golgrube, a pedigreed vineyard that had been neglected and overgrown. By dint of hard work and the blessing of 80+ year-old, ungrafted vines Daniel began attracting notice with his brilliant prädikat wines shortly thereafter. He grew his holdings in Wolfer Golgrube in addition to acquiring parcels in Kröver Steffensberg and Trabener Würzgarten, all the while working the vertiginous sites by hand without pesticides or herbicides. This work is reflected in the depth and dazzling expressiveness of the wines, especially the prädikat wines featuring residual sugar.
Julian Haart
Still a young producer, Julian Haart received a lot of attention in Germany, due mostly to his apprenticeships with Klaus-Peter Keller and Egon Müller, and his close friendship and working relationship with Andreas Adam. Like Andreas, he’s looking to create Mosel wines with substance and depth that still retain freshness and their quintessential Mosel-ness. There’s so much demand for the wines over in Germany that his tiny production sells out instantly! Luckily we're able to offer some of his wines from time to time.
It's no secret that the Rieslings of the Mosel (Saar and Ruwer) are some of the most articulate expressions of terroir in the world. At their finest, they are filigreed, detailed, mineral, and pure. The region is home to a number of sensational growers: J.J. Prüm, Egon Müller, Fritz Haag, Von Schubert, Lauer, not to mention one of our favorites - Willi Schaefer. This 4 hectare estate in Graach produces some of the most poetic, age-worthy, terroir specific examples of Riesling from three vineyard sites. The blue Devonian slate vineyards of Graacher Himmelreich and Graacher Domprobst produce wines that are charmingly pretty and pungently mineral, respectively, while Wehlener Sonnenuhr’s blue/grey slate soil produces wines with richer texture and a spicy character. We are pleased to offer today a number of aged bottles just entering maturity which will give pleasure now and for years to come.
I have always loved the wines of Ulli Stein. His dry ('Trocken') wines remind me of great Muscadet, or Chenin on schist. Even with his off-dry ('Feinherb') wines, I only sense ripeness, never sweetness. There is a particularly chiseled minerality and sharpness to Ulli's wines, balanced by a subtle density that calms and frames the acidity. -EL
Some info on the producer from the Wines of Germany website:
"The Stein family began cultivating wine in the Mosel region of Germany in the 16th century, back when wine growers typically practiced their professions only part-time. Heinrich and Erna Stein were the first in the family to dedicate themselves to winegrowing as a full-time occupation. In 1948, they founded Weingut Stein, where Heinrich focused on producing high quality wines. His sons Ulrich and Peter took over the business in 1982, consistently refining their father’s experimental approach and pushing the boundaries of winemaking in the region. Ulrich Stein, or “Ulli,” graduated with an oenology degree from the prestigious University of Geisenheim, completed his PhD studies in biology, and went on to dedicate his life to producing high-quality Mosel wines from ancient vines planted on laboriously steep slopes.
Ulli saw tending and reviving old vines in the Mosel region as crucial to upholding the traditional viticultural practices of the region and necessary to preserving the region’s winemaking future. In his view, climate change and rising temperatures meant that white grapes along the riverbank and at the lower third of the region’s slopes ripen too fast, endangering classic wines that are dependent on cold weather like Eiswein and low-alcohol Feinherb and Kabinett bottlings. He found that the region’s old vines better adapted to the effects of climate change, as their deep root systems handled drought and heavy rainfall better and had fewer problems with botrytis. Hence Ulli’s advocacy efforts for the preservation of the vines on the iconic steep slopes."
Our love for the wines of Ulli Stein is deep and devoted. His are some of the most pure and direct, un-fancy wines you can possibly find from the Mosel. They are also, like Clemens Busch's wines and very few other producers, made with much less added sulfites than any other wines from the region, making them wonderfully "drinkable" glass after glass.
A special thanks to our former colleagues at Chambers St. Wines, John McIlwain and Cari Bernard, who wrote extensively and passionately about the producers in today's emails, and whose writing was referenced and used in many of the bios found above! You rock!*
*I fought a slate pun here... couldn't decide on how to word it, but I was going to go there
