Wine & Spirits - February 2020 - 51

YEAR'S BEST MOSEL RIESLINGS
earthy, with an apricot-skin fuzziness to the
texture that's balanced by tangy litchi-like
fruit. Pour it for dosas, or Indian-spiced lentils. § Coeur Wine Co., NY

three years for this wine to finish fermentation. Even now it retains some fermentation character in its scents and flavors of
bread dough and milky lees, but those notes
become more complex with air, turning
toward caramel and sandalwood. A bright
lime-zest acidity carries the wine with freshness and clarity, and suggests this is best
served in the same way it was made: slowly
and leisurely, allowing it to unfold at its own
pace. § M.S. Walker, Somerville, MA
274768

90 | Peter Nicolay

275119

90 | Friedrich Wilhelm
Gymnasium

$17

2018 Mosel Fritz Willi Feinherb Off-Dry
Riesling (Best Buy) ^ A perennial favorite
at W&S, Fritz Willi is zippy and refreshing
in 2018. A blend of fruit fermented in old
casks and other lots fermented in stainlesssteel tanks, it manages to be mouthfilling
and mouthwatering at once, its citrus flavors broad yet precise. § Delicato Family Wines,
Napa, CA
274758

90 | Dr. HeidemannsBergweiler

$25

2018 Mosel Urziger Würzgarten Dry Riesling ^ This is rich and firm, the extract and
mineral flavor giving it density and grip. It
tastes of pear skin and pink grapefruit, earthy
and fresh-a combination that works particularly well with freshwater fish, like pan-fried
trout. § Vinum Cos, Buffalo Grove, IL
275026

90 | Dr. Lippold

$48

2008 Mosel Urziger Würzgarten Alte
Reben v. Weltersberg Hochgewächs Riesling ^ Enno Lippold worked on the business
side of wine until the mid-2000s, when he
purchased several parcels in the Urziger
Würzgarten, including Weltersberg, a patch
of old, ungrafted vines rooted in red slate
toward the top of the slope. A staunch traditionalist who believes in ageworthy German riesling, he's recently released a cache
of wines from 2008, his first vintage. This one
is rich and brothy, with a full complement
of earthy petrol notes under the wildflowerhoney sweetness, all tied together by racy
acidity. Ready now, for roasted game birds. §
Banville Wine Merchants, NY
274799

90 | Melsheimer

$49

2015 Mosel QbA Lentum Riesling ^ Thorsten Melsheimer, who converted his family's vineyards to biodynamics in 2009, takes
a hands-off approach in the cellar, waiting

$22

2018 Mosel Urziger Würzgarten Dry Riesling ^ This is unequivocally dry, its pithy citrus
notes driven toward savory earth flavor by
grippy phenolics. It feels tannic, with a fine
powdered-spice texture that holds the flavors
firm and long. § Vinum Cos, Buffalo Grove, IL
273880

90 | Nik Weis

$13

2018 Mosel Urban Riesling (Best Buy) ^ For
this négociant bottling, Nik Weis sources the
fruit from his neighbors in Mehring, where
the slopes are steep and covered in blue slate.
He gives the fruit a short soak before pressing, hoping to extract extra aroma and flavor, then vinifies the wine entirely in stainless
steel. In 2018, that process yielded a pretty
riesling, full in texture yet brisk and fresh,
with a crystalline clarity to its stony lime flavors. At $13, this is one to buy by the case. §
HB Wine Merchants, Hartly, DE
275486

90 | Stein

$24

2018 Mosel Blauschiefer Trocken Riesling ^
This is crisp and bright with lemon-yellow
fruit and minty herbal notes. At 11.5 percent
alcohol, it's wonderfully refreshing, with invigorating energy. § Vom Boden, Brooklyn, NY
275485

90 | Stein

$26

2017 Mosel Weihwasser Feinherb Riesling ^
This comes mainly from a vineyard south of
Bremm, in the Lower Mosel. Like all of Ulli
Stein's parcels, the vines are on their own
roots, and farmed with no chemical inputs.
The wine is lush and creamy at first, with
notes of milk and honey, then gains clarity
with air, the floral and herbal scents giving
it a springtime feel. § Vom Boden, Brooklyn, NY
275195

89 | Dr. Hermann

89 | Nik Weis
St. Urbans-Hof

$18

88 | Maximin Grünhaus

$16

88 | Peter Nicolay

$18

87 | Dr. L.

$12

86 | Dr. L.

$12

2018 Mosel Dry Riesling (Best Buy) ^ Nik
Weis runs the second-largest family-owned
winery in the Mosel, with a wealth of vines
more than 50 years old. He relies entirely on
old-vine fruit for this wine, spontaneously
fermented in stainless-steel tanks. The ambient-yeast fermentation has left its mark in
a reductive funk, but the wine's bright acidity pushes through it to reveal fleshy peach
flavor. It's rich and almost oily in texture, a
packed young wine that would do well with a
swirl in a decanter before pouring with misoglazed cod. § HB Wine Merchants, Hartly, DE
274947
2018 Mosel Maximin Riesling (Best Buy) ^
Green-grassy, this is brisk and fresh, with
zesty lime flavors riding on savory mineral
tones-and it's well priced for everyday
drinking. § Loosen Bros. USA, Salem, OR
274770
2018 Mosel Riesling (Best Buy) ^ This is
sweet and tangy, its lemony acidity playing
off juicy peach fruit. It feels welcoming and
generous, easy to drink on its own. § Vinum
Cos, Buffalo Grove, IL
274945
2018 Mosel Dry Riesling (Best Buy) ^ Drier
than the regular Dr. L bottling (also recommended here), this is floral and earthy, with
a full-bodied texture that makes it satisfying. §
Loosen Bros. USA, Salem, OR
274965
2018 Mosel Riesling (Best Buy) ^ From Ernst
Loosen's négociant line, this is well-priced
picnic wine, with bright, sweet-lime flavors
and enough acidity to keep it clean. § Loosen
Bros. USA, Salem, OR

GROSSES GEWACHS

$19

2018 Mosel Trocken Riesling (Best Buy) ^
This is extremely austere, all stone wrapped
in acidity, the lemony notes reading more
like sunlight than fruit. There's an edge of
drying tannins that could use something
fatty to balance, like speck or prosciutto with
the fat. § Broadbent Selections, Richmond, VA
273881

274960

95 | Dr. Loosen

$54

2017 Mosel Erdener Treppchen GG Riesling ^ Ernst Loosen's old, own-rooted vines
seem to have sucked up the very stone they
grow in: This Grosses Gewächs wine tastes
WINE & SPIRITS

FEBRUARY 2020

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Wine & Spirits - February 2020

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