2018 Willi Schaefer Graacher Himmelreich Riesling Spätlese

Riesling from Mosel, Germany

$58

Ships today if ordered within 18 minutes

Schaefer is absolutely, without question, one of the greatest producers in Germany. This is a benchmark for the Mosel and the wines are coveted not just by collectors, but by other growers.  

The nose is aromatic with hints of lime blossom, honeysuckle, green pear and a mineral, flinty smokiness. The palate is insanely pure and complex with some mid-palate tension and a long finish of honey and key lime pie.

This is perfect with Asian food or anything with a little spice. This is also a go-to for Thanksgiving Dinner.

    Pairs with
    2018
  • RP 93
  • WS 93
  • JS 93

In Stock At our temperature controlled facility in Costa Mesa, CA

Free Ground Shipping with 6 or more bottles in your cart

Riesling

Riesling is an aromatic white grape variety producing arguably some of the finest white wines in the world. Public misconception can give Riesling a negative connotation, but it actually varies greatly in style from bone-dry (“trocken”), off-dry (“halbtrocken”) to very sweet. The labelling terms for Riesling’s sweetness levels are as follows, each next one increasing in sweetness. Kabinett, being the lightest style, Spätlese, Auslese, Beerenauslese, Trockenbeerenauslese, and Eiswein.

It is a wonder of a vine adapting and preserving its identity wherever it is grown. Riesling is the great grape of Germany, perhaps the world’s most important region for producing this variety. It is also of significant importance to Alsace, France and grown popularly in the United States and Australia.

These wines tend to have a prominent aroma of petroleum as well as beeswax or honey and flowers. They pair excellently with many foods depending on the style, but their classic partner is Indian or Asian dishes.

If you’re new to all this, there’s a reason these wines are so beloved. Part of it is they’re so scarce; the estate is all of 4.2 hectares with no desire to grow. Part of it is the wines themselves; they’re silly delicious. You cannot be unhappy drinking these perfect ur-Mosel Rieslings. And as crystalline as they are, as ethereally complex and limpidly clear, they have a quality of calm; they don’t fuss at you with how amazing they are. Since 2015, Christoph Schaefer and his wife Andrea run this storied family winery in Graach, the pair met while studying enology at Geisenheim. Their winemaking philosophy is not much different than that of Christoph’s father or grandfather. The focus is not on numbers or analytics, but on how the grapes taste. From harvesting each plot to the fermentations with natural yeast, all the way through bottling, everything is done by taste and feel.

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