The Mosel Valley, 1896 in 2001
2001 Schmitt-Wagner
Longuicher Maximiner Herrenberg Spätlese
Ancient Mosel Vines in the Glorious 2001 Vintage

The Herrenberg Vineyard has some of the oldest vines in the Mosel (maybe even Europe), dating back to 1896. Today, a small parcel of 2001ers comes out of the cellars to speak.

I'll try and be short here - both because the holiday weekend is almost upon us but also because we have only a few cases of this available, and at this price, well, once again we are reminded of the profound values to be found in German Riesling.

Grand Cru Dry Ruwer Riesling
2009 Karthauserhof Grosses Gewächs
First Ever GG from the Monastery in the Mountain
Special "Futures" Pricing Ends Friday!

Karthauserhof's legendary, cultish Auslese Trocken "S" has a new name in 2009.

Though I forgot to ask Marcel Tyrell why the estate decided to change their classification system this year, I can make some pretty good guesses.

First of all, 2009 is a profound vintage for dry wines, especially in the Saar and Ruwer where the deep, pure ripeness of 2009 is countered more forcefully by the vigorous acidity the regions are famous for. Second, the "Grosses Gewächs" name is really beginning to catch on. It translates, literally, to "Great Growth" and in the VDP-inspired system, this moniker can only be given to the greatest dry wine from the region's top sites.

2009 J.J. Prüm
Mosel Icon: German Futures Campaign Continues
Special Futures Pricing Up To 15% Lower than 2008!

J.J. Prüm is without a doubt the most iconic wine estate in Germany... they also produce some of the longest-lived, most captivating expressions of Mosel Riesling.

Today we present the very first, just unveiled batch of monumental 2009 J.J. Prüms at special futures pricing!

Middle Mosel Magic
2009 Schloss Lieser Juffer Sonnenuhr Spätlese
The Best of the Mosel in 2009 - SUPER LIMITED!

"...many reports are circulating that the Schloss Lieser 2009ers are amongst the greatest wines produced in Germany this year." - John Gilman, View from the Cellar

So writes Mr. John Gilman in his 2009 German report. He continues: "It's a rumor I cannot confirm or deny right now, but which I intend to verify as soon as I can sink my teeth into some of their wines from this vintage."

While we wait, I'm happy to confirm the rumor.

The $30 Cult Wine from Klaus-Peter Keller
2009 Keller Riesling "Von der Fels"
JUST ARRIVED - One Parcel Only!

This is the one and only parcel we'll be getting.

All this to say act sooner rather than later!

We started fielding calls and emails for Klaus-Peter Keller's wines in March and it's only gotten more intense. We expect this small tranche to disappear quickly.

The Rarest Wine in Germany?
TRUE German Kabinett
Willi Schaefer 2008 Kabinett DEAL

What's truly rare? The delicate, whistling Kabinett.

The misunderstood 2008 German vintage (almost without fail an obsession of wine geeks and terroir fanatics) has very likely given us some of the last of a dying breed: TRUE Kabinett.*

The TRUE Kabinett is NOT about power, or depth, or accolades and hype. These are wines that charm you, wines whose human, intimate proportions are meant for enjoyment, for drinking, for refreshment.

Willi Schaefer History: The New Dry Side
2009 Willi Schaefer Graacher Himmelreich GG
The First Ever "Grand Cru" Dry from Willi Schaefer!

We're honored that we've been chosen to introduce it to the U.S.

For those not up to speed with their fuder conversions, this is roughly one thousand liters of wine, about 1,300 bottles - just over 100 cases.

Kirchspiel at a Tender Four Years of Age
2006 Keller Westhofener Kirchspiel GG
Small Back-Vintage Tranche - Near-Release Pricing

In a short, short time the "Grand Cru" dry Rieslings of Klaus-Peter Keller have become among the most coveted dry Rieslings in Germany.

It's been absolutely incredible to watch, to experience.

At this point, it's hard to keep these wines in stock for any duration - we are, in fact, already fielding regular inquiries for the not-yet-released 2009s!

So today, amidst our German Futures Campaign, we go the opposite direction, taking a quick glance back over our shoulders into the not-so-distant past with a small parcel of Keller's 2006 Kirchspiel GG.

The Crush 5th Annual
German "Futures" Campaign Continues...
2009 Zilliken - 2009 Fritz Haag
Special "Futures" Pricing Ends Wednesday, July 7th

"The 2009ers from Hanno and Dorothy Zilliken are absolutely monumental and strong candidates for the greatest set of wines to be found in Germany in this vintage."
John Gilman, View from the Cellar

Gilman doesn't have glorious words for Fritz Haag, but only because he didn't visit the estate. I didn't visit the estate either, but I did taste the wines at the Mainzer Weinbörse and then again in NYC and they are very, very good. (More below.)

Yes, 2009 is (another) glorious vintage in Germany... sorry!

The 2009 vintage in Germany is ripe, yet very clear, which for me makes a big difference. The fruit is super pure with really impressive concentrations, extract that coats the palate. The great estates found a ton of minerality as well as wicked-beautiful acidities, stern headmasters that whip everything into shape.

The Crush 5th Annual
German "Futures" Campaign Begins Today...
2009 Dönnhoff

"The 2009ers at Weingut Dönnhoff are amongst the most beautiful wines to be found in all of Germany, and there are an embarrassment of riches to choose from in this coming vintage." - John Gilman, View from the Cellar

"An embarrassment of riches" - an apt phrase for Germany at the moment.

2009 is (another) glorious vintage in Germany... sorry. It's ripe, yet very clear, which for me makes a big difference. The fruit is super pure with really impressive concentrations, extract that coats the palate. The great estates found a ton of minerality as well as wicked-beautiful acidities, stern headmasters that whip everything into shape.

From Unknown to Celebrity: A.J. Adam
2009 A.J. Adam Hofberg Kabinett
Special Pre-Arrival Pricing until Friday Only...

(He's the young kid that we've been heralding as one of the greatest winemakers in the Mosel for about three years.)

In fact, last summer when Paul Grieco asked me to write a small piece for his "Summer of Riesling" wine list at Terroir, I wrote about A.J. Adam's 2008 Kabinett.

Then, in mid-April of this year Asimov did his New York Times tasting of the 2008 Kabinetts and sure enough Adam's Kabinett came out on top.

Adam's 2005s were good, the 2006s baroque and a bit over-the-top, but exquisite. His 2007s were profound, the 2008s were perhaps the best of the vintage; and with the very, very good (possibly very great) 2009 vintage, A.J. has made another simply awesome collection.

2 Guys, 1.8 Hectares & an Old Basket Press
2007 Enderle & Moll Pinot Noir "Buntsandstein"
Elegant, Traditional Pinot... for only $31

Volnay (especially Lafarge), Noel Verset and his glorious Cornas, Beaujolais (especially Foillard) and Eric Texier with his sinewy little tough-guy Côtes-du-Rhône Brézème...

These are the comparisons that come to mind, my gut reactions to Sven Enderle's and Florian Moll's beautiful Spätburgunder (Pinot Noir) from Germany's Baden.

The first time Joe and I tasted it, we knew almost immediately that we'd buy all that was available to us. 

Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man
2002 A.J. Adam Riesling Dhronhofberger "Tholey"
A Tiny, Back-Vintage Four-Case Parcel

A.J. Adam is quickly becoming one of the most celebrated winemakers in the Mosel. Then again, if you're getting this email, you likely already know this.

Who knows, maybe you're already a card-carrying member of the A.J. Adam cult.

Lord knows we are.

More than any other producer, youngster A.J. Adam seems to have grabbed the attention of the German wine drinking public, and for good reason. The wines are simply awesome. They are forceful and meaty, extremely complex with ample fruit, yet they flaunt an expression of terroir that can match any wine on the Mosel - or the Saar or Ruwer for that matter.

Rieslings for Advanced Learners
2008 Weingut Peter Lauer Fass 9 "Kern"
THE Germany Discovery, Part II: Crush Exclusive!

The cut-from-stone, unapologetically mineral, bracing and bright Rieslings of Florian Lauer in Germany's Saar were our greatest German discovery of 2009.

Today, we present the final tranche of his glorious 2008ers.

We first presented Weingut Peter Lauer to the United States in early fall 2009, and our email began verily: "WE DECLARE, WITHOUT HESITATION, THAT WEINGUT LAUER IS THE MOST EXCITING GERMAN FIND IN MANY YEARS."

Today we present the final tranche of Lauer's shivering 2008s, direct from the estate, exclusive for Crush - thank you Florian!

The 2008 "Kern" (named after a sub-parcel within the Ayler Kupp with ~80-year-old vines) provides for one of the most impressive displays of sweetness and acidity we've come across in a long time.

2008 Van Volxem: Ambition in the Saar
Special Pre-Arrival Pricing on the 2008 Collection
See Below for Details on "2008 Van Volxem Primer"

There is no denying that Van Volxem is one of the most important estates in Germany's historic Saar Valley

The fact is, Roman Niewodniczanski, the heir to the Bitburger Beer fortune, has been on a buying spree the last 10 years or so, securing some of the grandest, oldest-vine sites in the Saar.

For example, Roman's parcel in the famed Gottesfuss includes ungrafted, pre-phylloxera vines that are between 100 and 150 years old, though he also owns top parcels in the legendary Scharzhofberger (think Egon Müller), Altenberg and Braunfels, among others.

2003 Bert Simon Serrig Herrenberg BA
The Noble Art of the BA at an Extraordinary Price
Full 750ml Bottles for as Low as $38.50!

...but not for today's sweet Friday Steal!

The BA is one of the highest art forms in German winemaking.

These are the rare German dessert wines, every bit the equal of the great Sauternes. Most German wine aficionados (unsurprisingly!) will tell you that the best German "stickies" present more than what a Sauternes can offer, with more elegance, finesse, minerality and acidity along with that magical, noble rot-inflected array of mango, apricot and honey. (See sidebar for more on the BA and noble rot.)

Do you just want to read about the individual growers and their wines? Scroll down...

It's a ludicrous title for a vintage report, I know.

Still, I'm sticking with this title because it's stuck with me, ever since I shook Oliver Haag's hand goodbye and left my first tasting appointment of the 2008 vintage in Germany. (That was, by the way, April 18th, 2009, just to give you some context).

Let me try and explain what I mean by the word "important." The 2008 vintage presents, for the first time in some years, an authentic snapshot of what we used to mean by the words "Kabinett" and "Spatlese." If the last few years have turned the stage over to the Baroque masterpieces, the epics with layer after dripping layer, in 2008 we find something more intimate, smaller...2008 is less Wagnerian Opera and more Chamber music. Less the expansiveness of Jackson Pollock and more the detailed, tight, etched spaces of Albrecht Durer. For those of you who know sports, enter some sports analogy here. 2008 is concise and sharp.

Tim Frohlich, the 30-something ultra-cool winemaker, may well be a genius. He has what Rudi Wiest calls "the touch." Unlike most winemakers in Germany, he did not study at Geisenheim; instead, at the tender age of 21, after only an an internship, he simply told his parents (his mother was making the wines at the time) that he was ready to take over the estate. And so he did.

I can't quite explain it, but when Tim says something to you, it's said in such a frank and even tone that it's hard to resist. It's as if he can only recite god-given facts. In my imagination, Tim wakes up one morning, realizes he is now going to make the wines at the estate, and calmly tells his mother and father. They, in turn, nod silently in agreement and then everyone goes back to work without another word.

However it went down, it was a wise move. Tim's first vintage was 1995 and in the decade plus since, Schafer-Frohlich has risen to an elite status in the Nahe. Donnhoff beware. Emrich-Schonleber watch out! Indeed, after the mind-blowing strengths of his lineup of wines from 2005, 2006 and now 2007, I really don't think there are many people who could argue that this estate is not on paar with Donnhoff and Emrich-Schonleber.

Just about everything you need to know about the 2007 German vintage, incorporating notes from Rudi Wiest, Therry Theise, Lars Carlberg of the Mosel Wine Merchant, Gernot Kollmann of Weingut Knebel and John Gilman of the newsletter A View from the Cellar.

Could it get any better than that?

Yes, it can because the great 2007ers of Germany are classics with just epic wines at the Kabinett and Spatlesen level while the Auslesen are good to very, very good. And unlike 2006 (not to mention 2005 and 2003) which produced opulent Auslesen and above at the expense of the featherweight Kabinetts, 2007 has it all. Shimmering Kabinetts, absolutely profound Spatlesen, Auslesens that are clean and sleek... Wow.

"Expressiveness bordering on the super-natural." - Terry Theise

The view within the Haardter Burgergarten vineyard; the Muller-Catoir estate is visible in the distance,
to the left, with the bright yellow awnings.

The 2007 collection at Muller-Catoir serves as a compelling testament to the survival of a level of craftsmanship once widely assumed to have deteriorated. Time to check your assumptions, because these are wines of stunning clarity and uniqueness.

The elite BAs and TBAs especially, are just absolutely psychotic (in a good way). They have a guillotine-like cut, an apocalyptic fireworks of bright fruits, herbs and flowers and minerals that glow like the neon blazing across Times Square. Words just don't do the singular uniqueness, and extraordinary quality of these wines, justice. So try one.

The wines of Helmut Donnhoff have such power and complexity that their signature weightless feels seems nearly miraculous. One taste and you sense that magic. Donnhoff's wines are on par with the best of Germany in a very unique way - his sweet wines rival those of Prum and Egon Muller and the dry wines are mentioned in the same breath as luminaries such as Keller and Rebholz. Very few (any?) have this degree of versatility.

Approaching the estate in Oberhausen.

How happy were we to see a bottle of Hansjorg Rebholz's mind-blowing Riesling in a photo in Wednesday's New York Times! - not to mention the short but savvy article wine writer Eric Asimov penned about the great quality (and drinkability) of dry German Rieslings!

To see real-time inventory of our great German dry Rieslings, click here.

Von Buhl, Emrich-Schonleber, Weil and Kunstler stand proud and dry.

We've been passionately championing dry German Rieslings since the store opened over three years ago and it's gratifying to see the press, not to mention a growing audience of wine drinkers, get behind these great (and absurdly affordable) bottles. At this point, with a selection of nearly 30 dry German Rieslings from $16.95 and up, we must have one of the widest, deepest and surely the greatest selection of dry German Rieslings in the U.S.

Right now, we have amazing dry Rieslings from Donnhoff, Emrich-Schonleber, Furst, Karthauserhof, Knebel, Kunstler, Lang, Rebholz, Schafer-Frohlich, Spreitzer, Stein, Von Buhl, Weil, Wirsching and Wittmann! (And about 200 other German Rieslings of the sweeter variety.)

The Kunstler estate has recently moved into new headquarters. Well, old new headquarters. The great building on the Geheimrat-Hummel-Platz that Kunstler now calls home formerly housed the Rheingau's oldest sparkling wine manufacturer. True story. The 1837 building is considered a landmark and has some wonderful architectural details. Though the new tasting rooms that Gunter Kunstler and family have redone are undeniably slick with some modern touches (they have automatic sliding glass doors - "komisch!"), they've done a great job of keeping the soul of the building front and center - it's truly beautiful and a wonderful place to taste wine. Believe me, 11am on a Tuesday rarely looks as good for me as a lineup of 19 different Kunstler wines, going back some 10+ years.

You have arrived. Hochheim's Geheimrat Hummel-Platz. It's fun to say!

In September of 2007 I was lucky enough to travel through Germany with legendary importer Rudi Wiest. I have long been a fan of the great wines of Germany but I have to say this trip was nothing short of a revelation. I had the opportunity not only to speak with the winemakers and walk their vineyards with them, I got to taste roughly 400 wines, most of them from the 2006 vintage. I'm happy to offer some of the highlights of this trip in the form of my "German Travelogues."

Ludwig Breiling has been the winemaker at Karthauserhof for many years and his signature is an exquisitely enchanting dance of minerality and acidity. These two sensations are for a Karthauserhof more than mere descriptors, they are the very core of the composition. The fruit, though lean and graceful, is never the most important part of a Karthauserhof. Rather, the wines quietly reveal a singular delicacy, a wispiness that is persistent and almost always refreshing, like a brisk morning fog where you can almost smell and taste the cold stones in the stream and the lemon orchards over the hill - which is, not surprisingly, very much the atmosphere at the estate.

The lichen-dappled stone wall at Karthauserhof.

Up in the foresty, dew-covered Ruwer Valley, rising eastward from the famed Mosel, the Karthauserhof estate has been producing some of the most glowingly austere, mineral-drenched Rieslings since 1335.

The great Rieslings of this estate have the reputation for aging themselves into greatness. With a decade (or many more) in the cellar, a Karthauserhof's citrus widens to introduce exotic spices, herbs and wax notes; the minerality becomes much more detailed and textured, a fireworks show of minerals and flowers exploding on the palate.

We are proud to have a back-vintage library of these minerally Rieslings; all of these wines are treats for any Riesling fanatic.

In September of this year I was lucky enough to travel through Germany with legendary importer Rudi Wiest. I have long been a fan of the great wines of Germany but I have to say this trip was nothing short of a revelation. I had the opportunity not only to speak with the winemakers and walk their vineyards with them, I got to taste roughly 400 wines, most of them from the 2006 vintage. I'm happy to offer some of the highlights of this trip in the form of my "German Travelogues."

I had tried some Schloss Lieser wines before, but I was not expecting the perfection that I experienced. Let me not be shy here: I consider the collection amongst the absolute best I had while in Germany.

The slate walls of the estate, showing off the VDP plaque.

When national publications name their "Wines of the Year," they are limited by many factors - the biggest of which is the wine's availability. It doesn't make sense for them to drive the public into a frenzy over a bottle of wine that is hardly available.

As a small independent retailer, we have more freedom!

Granted, we also use a different set of criteria. We want outrageous quality for the money, of course, but we also seek respectful winemaking, a wine that speaks of where it comes from and what we call the x-factor - that inexplicable, inexpressible, toe-curling sense of something extraordinary.

Stadlmann's 2006 Zierfandler Mandel-Hoh has all this and more - that's why it's my wine of the year!

No, you've probably never heard of Zierfandler. It's a largely unheard of grape that's basically only grown in Austria's tiny Thermenregion. The Mandel-Hoh vineyard is the world's top site for the grape - this wine should not to be confused with Stadlmann's regular Zierfandler bottling.

Fresh from a trip to Germany, David Schildknecht of the Wine Advocate recently noted: "Apropos 2006, I don't think word has really gotten out in sufficient detail and with appropriate perspective as to the qualitative nature of this remarkable year... the list of distinguished Nahe and Middle Mosel growers who consider their 2006 collections the best of their lifetime's alone demonstrates that this is a remarkable vintage with many truly mind-boggling wines."

These comments square exactly with the impressions that Joe and I had, when first tasting Helmut Donnhoff's 2006 line-up this Spring. Almost across the board Donnhoff's 2006s reveal pure, amazingly concentrated fruit with a fighter-jet sleekness that is simply thrilling.

Special "pre-arrival" pricing on the entire 2006 lineup expires September 1!

The Lower Mosel is famous for its frighteningly steep vineyards and its drier wines of compact complexity and filigreed finesse.

This region includes, perhaps counter-intuitively, the most northerly section of the river, from roughly Zell down to the suburbs of Koblenz, where the winding Mosel empties itself into the mighty Rhein.

Though the region has always played second fiddle to the Middle Mosel, the Lower Mosel includes some very well respected vineyards, such as the Punderich's Marienburg, Bremm's precipitous Calmont and the terraced wonders of Winningen. The quality of the wine from the region's great slopes just cannot be denied; as Stephen Brook writes in The Wines of Germany, "The correlation between steepness of site and quality of wine has been well established."

I have to admit, I struggled with the idea of yet another Riesling email so early into 2007. After your strong interest and support of the 2005 vintage led to its enormous success, I felt that perhaps we should take it easy with the Riesling offers - even though Germany, along with Burgundy and Champagne, is an area whose heat is currently immeasurable.

The 1989 Bert Simon Serrig W�rtzberg Gold Capsule Auslese convinced me otherwise.

Obviously, my wine of the year had to be a Riesling. I love Riesling and this year I tasted more Rieslings than one could possibly shake a stick at.

This summer I went to Germany with importer extraordinaire Rudi Wiest and tasted over 400 Rieslings in nine days. (My dentist will be able to retire early.) It was a thrilling ride hitting all the great winemaking regions in Germany: The Mosel, Nahe, Rheingau, Pfalz, Baden, Franken and more.

Due to your groundbreaking support of our �Riesling Futures� campaign and our corresponding support for some of Germany�s best vintners, we have secured some serious rarities that seldom see the American market.

It certainly helped that we were visiting these same winemakers this summer and was able to taste (and deal) while he was there.

This find is not from '05, but comes directly from the cellars of the producer that made our 2005 "Spatlese of the Vintage" ... and along with the '05 is considered one of his best efforts in the last 25 years...

We often talk of tiny productions, but let's put it in context with some numbers from 3 of the highest quality (and best known) producers in all of Germany:

Prum: 10,000 cases from 14.5 hectares
(36 acres or .056 square miles)
Donnhoff: 8,000 cases from 14.5 hectares (ditto)
Muller: 5,000 cases from 8 hectares
(19.8 acres or 0.03 square miles)*

And then there's Willi Schaefer ... who with his son Christof makes a mere 2,000 cases from the impossibly tiny, collective 3 hectares of vineyards (7.4 acres = .011 square miles) he owns in the Mittel Mosel towns of Graach and Wehelen. (c'mon! Central Park's Great Lawn is twice the size of his property!!)

Quietly lauded worldwide by those in the know, each year Schaefer's loyal cadre of followers surreptitiously snap up as many bottles of the gold-labeled nectar as they can get their hands on and squirrel them away without making a fuss about it, lest it become more difficult or expensive to find the wines the following year.

After our initial 2005 Riesling futures campaign lauded the incredible conditions in the middle-Mosel, we received a huge number of inquiries about our omission of some of the best vineyard sites for Riesling in the whole world; specifically the wines of the legendary Joh. Jos. Prüms.

How are the wines in '05?

Let's start with the opinion of the man himself, the historically tight-lipped Manfred:

In a recent conversation with Rudi Wiest, Herr Prüm called it his "best vintage in the past four decades," and said he was "blown away with 2005." Most convincing of all, he is confident that the vintage will stand up to the legendary wines of 1949 (!) ... Quite an early endorsement from a man who waited three years to comment on the 2003 vintage before comparing it to the celebrated vintage of '59.

2001 was one of the greatest German Riesling vintages in recent memory and put German Rieslings back in the forefront of many wine-lovers minds.

The absolutely perfect weather conditions (like the Bordeaux vintages of '82 and '00) caused collectors, many of whom had never bought Riesling before, to squirrel away cases at a time.

Unfortunately, this increased national spotlight and greater interest in Rieslings means that today it's difficult to find anything but loose bottles that haven't been standing up on a retail shelf for the last 3 years (I should know, I regularly scour the web and call retail stores around the nation to find older wine for my personal enjoyment).

If you can find bottles that have been well stored, they are often riper-style wines that are prohibitively expensive and still "in the tunnel" - a hibernation-like state of aging where their secondary flavors develop. They are very closed and backwards and need several years to re-emerge.