November 11, 2008

Palmberg-Terrassen: A Photo Journey

The Palmberg Terrassen is a completely unknown, roughly 5-hectare vineyard that is more than farmed by the Stein family; it is loved by the family. There's a devotion here, a connection to the land that is humbling. Ulli Stein's 86-year-old father has been making wine here since the early 1960s and he still visits the site almost daily, tending to his vines and drinking the wines of the vineyard as often as he can. In 2007 it has produced an incredibly concentrated, complex and wild off-dry Riesling. Easily one of the best values of this great vintage. Click the button below to see our real-time online inventory of Stein's 2007 St. Aldegunder Palmberg-Terrassen Spatlese-feinherb:

Roses dot the vineyard here and small sheds provide respite. Due to the severity of the incline, obviously working this site is extremely difficult and tiring. Many acres of the site have gone fallow, overrun by the wilderness. At this point, to the best of our knowledge, the Steins are the only serious producers within the vineyard, farming 1.3 hectares of the site and producing a scant 2 Füders worth of juice - that's only about 230 cases. The 2007 is THE FIRST bottling to be imported into the U.S.!

The shrine that Ulli Stein's father built within the vineyard. To this day, at 86-years-old, Herr Stein still visits his vineyard almost daily. In this picture you also see the "Terrassen," or terraces, that largely define the landscape of the Lower Mosel.

Here you get a real sense of just how very steep this vineyard is.

Another, slightly more panoramic view of the Palmberg-Terrassen vineyard.

Click the button below to see our real-time online inventory of Stein's 2007 St. Aldegunder Palmberg-Terrassen Spatlese-feinherb:

Posted by Joe Salamone at 10:45 AM | TrackBack

September 19, 2008

Van Volxem Dinner - Random Thoughts and Tasting Notes

Joe and I were pretty excited to host a dinner last Sunday at Hearth in NYC starring none other than Van Volxem's owner: Roman Niewodniczanski. Pretty much everything you've heard about him is true. He is very tall and he is very opinionated. He's not shy. And he's also making some of the most serious dry Rieslings in the Saar Valley. As an heir to the Bitburger beer fortune he's applied a "spare no expense" philosophy to his estate: Manic vineyard work, crazy-low yields sourced from some of the top sites of the Saar: Scharzhofberger, Altenberg and Gottesfuss to name a few. This was the first tasting of his 2007 single-vineyard wines, so it was sort of a treat to be the first in the U.S. to taste these dry Rieslings.

Posted by Stephen Bitterolf at 5:58 PM | TrackBack

September 17, 2008

Didier Dagueneau Dies at Age 52

Didier Dagueneau was one of the most formidable and talented winemakers in France. He died on Wednesday, September 17th in the morning, after the ultralight plane he was piloting apparently stalled soon after takeoff. He was 52 years old.

With really only Edmond Vatan as his inspiration, he demanded a severity and a purity of his wines that was matched only by the severity of his personality. He raced motorcycles, was an avid dogsled racer and later took up flying as a part of his in-your-face, daredevil personality. As a winemaker, he was no less outspoken and he criticized, loudly, those winemakers he saw cutting corners, or not living up to the potential of their vineyards. While he was controversial, he was also greatly respected and his wines undeniably given a sort of "Grand Cru" status in the Loire region.

Click here to read Eric Asimov's official obituary, published on Thursday in the New York Times.

Posted by Stephen Bitterolf at 5:17 PM | TrackBack

September 1, 2008

2007 German Vintage Report: Purity, Depth and Concentration Manifest

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.

Posted by Stephen Bitterolf at 7:11 PM | TrackBack

August 12, 2008

Preparing Absinthe

Preparing and Drinking Absinthe
Preparing absinthe is a complex ritual befitting the spirit's mythic lore.

This is a process in which, with every painstaking step, the anticipation builds to a crescendo culminating, finally, in actual consumption. In this way serving absinthe is similar to a Japanese tea ceremony.

Posted by Daniel Stenson at 9:08 PM | TrackBack

The Newest Member of Crush! Only a few days old...

We are thrilled to announce that Crush's Managing Partner Bobby Schagrin and his wife Bernie welcomed a baby boy into their family early Tuesday morning. Mother, baby and father are all doing great. We'll post more details soon!

Posted by Stephen Bitterolf at 9:11 AM | TrackBack