SteinRiesling “Ohne” 2018 (750ml)

Sourced from the Klosterkammer vineyard (contiguous with the Palmberg, just upstream), from a tiny parcel with old ungrafted vines trained on single-poles. Aged in Fuder for over two years and bottled in early 2021. It was harvested at only 89 Oechsle and even with the warmth of the vintage (and after years in Fuder on the full lees) it still has nearly 7 grams of acid. Honestly, this tastes nothing like what people think 2018 might taste like. This is more Stein – a “natural” Kabinett Trocken. Its time on the lees gives the wine delicate and airy notes of herbs, almonds, fresh corn, brioche and a touch of ginger. Yet it is eternal-feeling – still has plenty of lightness and energy.

Stein’s Riesling “Ohne” is, yes, a zero-sulfur wine. What is so fascinating, what is so beautiful about this wine, is that it shows the signatures of both grape and place; this is undeniably a Riesling from the Mosel. Very often the “zero-sulfur” of a wine covers up that very essence which it, in theory, seeks to reveal. That just isn’t the case here. The acidity, that slate minerality, is the core of this wine, yet it is not the angular, razor-sharp acid of a Mosel Kabinett. Rather, it is a minerality just as dense and compact, yet smoother – like the sword polished down to a perfect sphere. This is a stunning, finessed and ethereal expression of the Mosel – both so iconic in a way, and totally singular. Sorry, but it just is.