2019 Vollenweider Wolfer Goldrube Spatlese

Around 300 cases made, depending on the vintage. Weighty yet electric — quince, star fruit, candied lemon zest, white peach, wet slate, and smoky herbs, with ripe sweetness (92g/L residual sugar) that is immediately whipped into focus by a superbly nervy acidity, leaving a finish that is almost tart in its precision and completely mouthwatering. The 2019 Vollenweider "Wolfer Goldgrube" Spätlese is organically farmed Riesling from one of the Mosel's most dramatically steep and terraced south-facing vineyards in the village of Wolf — 20% botrytis influence, slow fermentation, aged in old fuder, nothing manipulated.The now passed Daniel Vollenweider arrived from Switzerland in 2000 — a surveyor, not a winemaker — fell in love with a bottle of Egon Müller Scharzhofberger Auslese, bought the completely abandoned Goldgrube vineyard, and spent years rebuilding centuries-old terraces by hand before producing a single bottle. Mosel Fine Wine calls 2019 "threading the needle" — think drinking feine Auslese — and recommends cellaring a decade or more. One of the great discovery estates in German Riesling. Cellar it and be patient