If 2023 passed through the market rather unnoticed, or unheralded, it is a curious fact that I think the vintage marks for some in the Mosel a simply break-through vintage for dry Riesling.
It was warm, which for dry wines from this cool place is not a bad thing. In fact, it is sorta ideal.
The issue in this vintage, as I’ve said a few times regarding 2023, was approaching the line of ripeness… but not going past it. In these rare instances in 2023, when the growers managed restraint, the wines are simply canonical – game changers even?
Such is the case, without question, at Vollenweider.
Vollenweider‘s trilogy of Grand Crus – Goldgrube, Schimbock and Goldgrube “Aurum” (we’ll discuss each below) are among the most Mosel Mosel wines I’ve ever had.
They are so etched and mineral, so linear, so unapologetically mineral and saline, so polished, so piercing and incisive that I’ve had the thought when drinking them, more than once, that perhaps I’ve never had wines that were so ruthlessly Mosel.
My title line “This is the Mosel” is trying, awkwardly maybe, to capture this profound truth. These wines are the Mosel, at its most cerebral and profound level.
None of the wines really have much, or any, fruit; they taste like mineral water elixirs. They are so wound up, so dense and inward-looking that it’s only with hours or days open that they begin to reveal fine layers of lime zest, anise, grapefruit, salt, lemon pith, citrus oils.
More than anything, they are simply mineral and structural – essential. If these wines are absolutely unforgiving right now (and they are), I have the feeling that in five to ten-plus years, they will be simply profound.
Moritz Hoffmann, who has taken over control at the estate since his friend and partner Daniel Vollenweider died, I think will prove to be one of his generation’s most gifted talents. Let’s see.
The Goldgrube Grand Cru Trocken is linear, smoky, and salty; this is structured and deeply serious, yet drinkable as well. There is an intensity here that is paired with a lightness, despite the power of the vintage. This is a wine that evaporates in the glass or, put another way, the first bottle empty on the table. Sourced from 120-year-old vines in the Goldgrube.
The “Schimbock” is sourced from a tiny vineyard just downstream from the Goldgrube. This is a beautiful, 0.5-hectare parcel of single-pole-trained, old, ungrafted vines. While Daniel historically did more skin contact with the wine, to give it volume and texture, Moritz is pressing it directly and the wine just has incredible cut to it. This is one of the most incisive and linear dry wines of the Mosel in 2023. Absolutely unreal cut and definition.
Finally, the “Aurum” is a special, old-vine parcel in the Goldgrube; the oldest vines they have. This is only the fourth vintage they have made the wine (2016, 2017, 2018 and now 2023) and they only made 300 liters. It is very similar to the Goldgrube, yet with more density and more texture. More amplitude; this wine had profound depth and really begins to show its layers after 12-48 hours open. This is haunting.
I cannot recommend these wines enough. We can help you find them – email orders@vomboden.com