Friday Features! 9/23/22

Friday Features!
Look alive! Riesling time!

Two beautiful Rieslings from two top tier importers, Vom Boden and Louis/Dressner. If you poll wine professionals about their top go-to wines, a huge number of the responses coming back to you would be, Riesling. They are extremely flexible with food. If you get an invite to dinner but no details on what you will be having, Riesling is about as good a bet as you can make on what wine would pair well with the mystery meal. They are comparatively high value. Spending just a bit more can get you a truly sublime bottle. Despite this, we are still likely to be met with resistance when we suggest them in the shop. This Riesling fear is abating in recent years but we won’t rest until it is completely gone! Set yourself free and get into Riesling.

Clemens Busch Vom Blauen Schiefer Riesling 2019
Regularly $43.99/On sale for $39.59
(100% Riesling)

The name of this wine is “From Blue Slate." The Vom Blauen Schiefer is from all the grapes grown on blue slate that don't make it into the single vineyard bottlings.The estate is unique among its middle-Mosel peers as it produces around 80-90% dry wines, although many are now following Clemens’ lead. The traditional production methods are thoughtfully adjusted according to the vintage and include late harvesting, maceration before pressing, long slow natural ferments and extended lees aging in ancient 1000-liter fuders (the youngest of which is 57 years old!). This is an extraordinary Riesling, no doubt age-worthy, but already spectacular in its youth.

Peter Lauer Faß 4 Ayler Saar Feinherb Riesling 2021
Regularly $30.99/On sale for $27.89
(100% Riesling)

“As noted with Fass 25, yet more revelations of climate change, the “1er Cru” Scheidterberg and Sonnenberg hills that curl around the village of Ayl are beginning to turn out wines of real depth and complexity, yet they also still flaunt a bit of their even-more-cool-climate thing. This is only the fourth vintage of this wine I’ve brought in, and honestly I think it’s here to stay. Think of it as “Barrel X” with more punch and guts.

In 2021 this wine is almost dangerous –  9.5% alcohol, 33.4 grams residual sugar with 10 grams (!) acid. Holy hell watch out.”-Vom Boden