Wine of the Week 4/26/22

Kuenhof Kaiton Südtirol Eisacktaler Riesling 2014 (!!!)

Regularly $42.99/On Sale for $14.96 (!!!!!)

Yep, you read that right.

We choose our Wines of the Week for a variety of reasons: exciting new wineries or styles, a desire to proselytize about a particular grape or region, or just a magnificent deal that we can share.  And every once in a while, all three of these things coalesce into one moment.  We are pretty unabashed about our appreciation for the Alto Adige/Südtirol region: high-altitude, cool-climate wines with terrific acidity and magnificent food-pairing possibilities.  Our love for Riesling we try to be more cool about, as it could easily turn into an obsession.  And the deal?   Sometimes an importer runs out of space, and it’s cheaper to let something precious go than to leave newer wines out on the dock.

One of the singular things about Riesling is its uncanny ability to age.  This wine has probably lost some of the bracing acidity it would have had in its youth, but what has emerged are gorgeous aromatics, beautiful texture, and, (still!) fresh, clean acidity!  THIS WINE DOES NOT SHOW ITS AGE.

The vineyards consist of steep, stony, terraces, hand harvested and organically farmed with biodynamic tendencies.  For 800 years, these grapes were sold to the nearby Abbazia di Novacella, one of the greatest wineries in northern Italy.  And then, in 1989, the family who have owned the land for the last 200 years began making their own wine.  They found a bottle that had been made for their own consumption from 1895, reanimated the yeast, and it is now used for all their white wines.  Already converted Riesling lovers must not miss this deal, and for the rest of you, take a risk!
Bone dry.  Super deelish.