Join us for a walkaround tasting of German Rieslings from the highly anticipated 2021 vintage. This was a very popular event last year with the 2020s – a chance to taste a wide range of wines from benchmark producers. We will show wines from our portfolio of producers - Maximin Grünhaus, Joh. Jos. Prüm, Zilliken and Schäfer-Fröhlich, as well as auktion Rieslings selected at auction by Linden from Peter Lauer, Schlossgut Diel, and von Othegraven. There will 20 wines to taste, at your own pace, ranging from dry styles, to gently fruity kabientt, spätlese and Auslese examples.

Linden visited the portfolio estates and attended the auctions last year and has tasted all of these wines. He wrote –

What quickly emerged was that while this was a challenging, cool, late, wet year (like in much of France), something very special had emerged from it – perhaps the finest, most classically elegant kabinett and spätlese level wines of this century. I bought a lot of these wines for myself.

The first inclination of some excitement for the year came when Stephan Reinhardt published his notes and ratings for Willi Schaefer’s 2021s in the Wine Advocate – the three wines destined for the auction the following month rated 100 – 100 – 99 respectively. Even the regular Graacher Domprobst Kabinett came in at 97. Usually it's only the “big gun” late harvest wines like Auslese goldkap or beerenauslese that get scores like this. I managed to get one (1!) magnum of the Willi Schaefer auction kabinett, one of the finest I’ve tasted in my life. (It won’t be in the tasting, but it is on the list!).

The second inclination that something very special had happened in vintage 2021, was some unprecedented buying behaviour at the Mosel auction. Everyone seemed to be setting new auctions records for auction kabinett. Among the Prüm auction selections, the kabinett went for 16% more than the spätlese, and 35% more than the Auslese. That’s completely upside down. Keller went on, at the Bad Kreuznach auction, to crush EUR 1200 a bottle on the hammer for their auction kabinett. Is this the beginning of a new trend, or simply recognition that conditions in 2021 were unusually ideal for the category? Time will tell.

So, do join us so that you can taste some of these wines yourself, get your own sense for the vintage, and choose those that will find a place in your cellar (or wine fridge for summer!).

Wines to be served:
2021 Maximin Grunhaus - Herrenberg Grosses Gewächs
2021 Maximin Grunhaus - Abtsberg Grosses Gewächs
2021 Schäfer-Fröhlich - Schlossbockelheimer Felsenberg Grosses Gewächs
2021 Schäfer-Fröhlich - Bockenauer Stromberg Grosses Gewächs
2021 Weingut Zilliken - Saarburger Rausch Grosses Gewächs

2021 Schäfer-Fröhlich - Vulkangestein Trocken

2021 Maximin Grunhaus - Herrenberg Kabinett
2021 Maximin Grunhaus - Abtsberg Kabinett
2021 Schäfer-Fröhlich - Bockenauer Felseneck Kabinett
2021 Weingut Joh. Jos. Prüm - Graacher Himmelreich Kabinett
2021 Weingut Joh. Jos. Prüm - Wehlener Sonnenuhr Kabinett
2021 Weingut Zilliken - Saarburger Rausch Kabinett
2021 Weingut Schlossgut Diel - Burg Layer Schlossberg Kabinett Auktion

2021 Weingut Joh. Jos. Prüm - Graacher Himmelreich Spätlese
2021 Weingut Joh. Jos. Prüm - Wehlener Sonnenuhr Spätlese
2021 Weingut Zilliken - Saarburger Rausch Spätlese
2021 Weingut Peter Lauer - Ayler Feils Spätlese Auktion AP#24
2021 Weingut von Othegraven - Kanzemer Altenberg Spätlese Auktion

2021 Weingut Joh. Jos. Prüm - Graacher Himmelreich Auslese
2021 Weingut Joh. Jos. Prüm - Wehlener Sonnenuhr Auslese