2020 Willi Schaefer Graacher Domprobst Riesling Kabinett Auction AP 1

Full bottle 1,211 g. Water-white. It is so tempting to write that this smells of slate as it smells of quintessential Mosel. So delicate, so lifted! Featherlight with a streak of lime running through it. A certain stoniness and quite a bit of pure fruitiness on the very clean finish. A joy to drink and evidence of the uniqueness of Mosel Kabinett. Look at that alcohol level! Wet-stone sensation on the finish. (JR)

The 2020 Graacher Domprobst Riesling Kabinett #1 (Versteigerung) comes with AP number 01 20 and will be auctioned later this year. The nose is clear, deep, intense and complex and everything but rich or heavy, despite the perfectly ripe and elegant fruit. This nose is pure and darker toned, exhibiting wet slate and flinty notes with very fine iodine Riesling aromas. Mouth-filling, round and silky, this is a crystalline, highly refined and balanced, salty-finishing Riesling with fine fruit structured by delicate and frisky acidity that is less piquant than in the Domprobst Kabinett #3 but very, very elegant and highly stimulating. This is an intense cru with a highly delicate and refined character. 7.5% alcohol. Natural cork. Tasted in September 2021.

AP number 03 21. Sublte herbal/fumey aroma that I associate with spontaneous fermentation but also giving a complex minerally quality as well as the citrus fruit. On the palate, there's a definite sweetness but it is beautifully balanced by the freshness and the finish is long and combines that mineral slaty character with pure citrus. (JH)