Weiser-Kunstler 2023s

Though I was slightly oblivious to German wines in my early days at Chambers Street Wines, and didn't realize I liked Riesling until my 30s (I was born in '82 so I was a little late to the party in 2012, but not too late!), I do remember witnessing something very special during the late 2000s and early 2010s. First, through the pioneering work of Lars Carlberg and his colleague Dan Melia at Mosel Wine Merchants, and then via the visionary Stephen Bitterolf from Vom Boden and our friends at Louis/Dressner Selections, a small and relatively unknown cadre of German wine producers were being introduced to an equally small but slowly growing group of wine nerds in the US. There was a lot of excitement, to the point that one wondered what all the fuss was about... it's just wine right? But to these importers, our staff at Chambers Street (and at Crush Wine Co. and Flatiron Wines, among others), and the US customers, these were not just wines. They were a testament to a long forgotten history of prized vineyard parcels in the Mosel. Many of these vineyards had been abandoned or were on the verge of abandonment, due to how outrageously difficult they were to farm, for low yields, no less. In addition to the fascinating history, and the story of the perseverance of these passionate winemakers (and vineyard saviors), the wines were scintillating, acid-driven, and delicious! One of the estates that was impressing this tiny American audience during these early years was Weiser-Künstler, a small project started in 2005 by Konstantin Weiser and Alexandra Kuenstler. Today we offer 2023s from Weiser-Kuntsler to some of the same folks who got hooked way back when, and the few newcomers who've just recently caught the bug.

The estate comprises around four hectares, all planted with Riesling. Beginning with a parcel of vines in the Ellergrub from the old Immich estate, this soon expanded to other very steep, largely ungrafted, old vine holdings in Ellergrub, Gaispfad and Steffensberg with the later additions, including Trarbacher Schlossberg. Ellergrub is a very special site, as the Weiser-Künstler bottlings—as well as those of Gernot Kollmann at Immich-Batterieberg—have proven. In addition to the site's great southwest exposure and all broken blue-slate terroir, there's been no Flurbereinigung (vineyard restructuring in which old, ungrafted vines are ripped up and craggy, characterful hillsides are flattened), so the vines are all old and ungrafted, bringing beautiful density and complexity to the base material with which they are working.

Flowers, bushes, plants, and micro-organisms—the flora and fauna that are crucial to any real concept of terroir—are thriving components of Weiser-Künstler’s sites. Alexandra and Konstantin want a living, vibrant, diverse vineyard and see it as part of their responsibility to protect the ecosystem and maintain its balance. They use no herbicides or pesticides. Machines cannot be used for vineyard work, since the terraces and the vineyards’ steepness do not allow for them to pass through. Instead, the soil is worked by hand, with a hoe, or occasionally with a Wingertsknecht (“vineyard farmhand”), an antiquated tool with a two-stroke engine and winches, which is used to smooth and break up the soil.

The work in the cellar is one of allowance for terroir expression – all wines undergo indigenous-yeast fermentation, which takes place in their particularly cool cellar. They use a combination of stainless steel and old oak Fuder depending on the wine, and rest on their fine lees for several months in order to allow their character to develop fully before bottling relatively late.

The emphasis at Weiser-Künstler is on the creation of light, lilting, low-alcohol wines with noticeable residual sugar that’s always in balance. They are finely detailed, mineral-driven (the Ellergrub site having a wonderfully chalky mineral texture), and subtly, compellingly fruity. No dabbler, drinker, lover, or connoisseur of Riesling should hesitate in getting to know these wines.

All of the wines from today's offer are priced low, and we're extending a special 10% discount on any purchase of 3 or more bottles (instead of our normal 12-bottle case discount!)