Alcohol: 7.5%
Grape(s): 100% Riesling
Localization: Mosel, Germany
Tasting Notes: The combination of concentrated yet delicate stone and citrus fruit aromas (think pomelo) with mouthwatering acidity makes this a brilliant Riesling Kabinett. As it aerates, this light-bodied, off-dry riesling develops a wealth of herbal nuances that range from dill to sage. Super-clean finish.
95 points Vinous: The Riesling Graacher Himmelreich Kabinett teases with a touch of scented white summer blossom and a stony crackle of wet slate bathed in ripe, juicy clementine. The palate is smooth and full, shining with pure, rounded, sweet clementine juiciness while standing on light, slender feet. A caress, a cloud of scent, a lovely and tender evocation of purest fruit. Such length, purity and exquisite balance are disarmin
The Domain: For knowledgeable German wine drinkers, Willi Schaefer is the Maestro of the Mittel Mosel, revered for the brilliant Rieslings he makes from two of the region’s greatest vineyards, Graacher Domprobst and Graacher Himmelreich.
What the cognoscente know is that Schaefer’s wines are among the Mosel’s most achingly beautiful, ethereally perfumed and laser-like in the expression of their great terroirs. And these qualities have placed them among the region’s most sought-after.
As John Gilman has written, “it is very evident when one is attending the annual VDP auctions in Trier that Weingut Willi Schaefer has now reached the very pinnacle of great estates on the Mosel, with many of the most sophisticated connoisseurs of German wines now pursuing the wines of the Schaefer family with the same passion as they do the wines of Egon Müller, Dr. Manfred Prüm and Hanno Zilliken.
In charge of his family’s estate since 1973, Schaefer draws on the accumulated wisdom of his many predecessors as Graach winegrowers dating back to the 16th century, following a traditional path of farming and winemaking to fashion Rieslings of extraordinary purity and finesse.
