Germany 1963 - 2002
Masterpieces in Riesling from J.J. Prum, Weil,
Karthauserhof, Von Schubert, Dr. Thanisch...
A Library of German Rarities - Special Holiday Pricing
Mature German Rieslings are mysterious and evocative - few wines age as long, and with as much grace.
It's an experience not to be missed.
Older German Rieslings are some of the hardest bottles to find - the collectors who buy these wines tend to obsess about them as much as we do, and for good reason. There are few things as nuanced and mysterious as Riesling with 20+ years of age. The sweetness, slowly, disappears; the texture and frame of the wine gains in delicacy; the fruit and mineral integrate. They can be absolutely magical.
Suffice it to say that today's small library of wines from the top producers in Germany has taken well over 6 months to assemble.
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The collection, however, is ready - just in time for the holidays and every bottle has been specially priced. Those of you who regularly scan the market for these wines will recognize the extreme rarity here, as well as the value. Today we can offer beautiful 1976 BAs for well under $200 for a 700ml bottle, while current-release BAs tend to be around $100 a HALF-BOTTLE!
The collector's will pounce - but we encourage those who are curious and who have never experienced an older German Riesling to try a bottle - the values here will be impossible to duplicate elsewhere.
Details are provided below for each and every bottle, though we encourage those with questions to give us a call at the store - one of our specialists can help you pick the perfect bottle. Quantities are *extremely* limited - in some instances we have but 1 or 2 bottles. All will be sold first come, first served.
To order, reply to this email or call the store at (212) 980-9463.
Stephen Bitterolf
Joe Salamone
Wine Buyers
Crush Wine & Spirits
Germany 1963-2002
1975 Christoffel Urziger Würzgarten Auslese
Special Email Price: $99.95
Only 1 bottle available!
No compare at pricing available
1975 is a lovely vintage in the Middle Mosel; wines with fine concentration and bright acidities that keep them feeling fresh and lively. From one a great site - bottle is in superb condition.
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1975 Deinhard Bernkasteler Brotenhofchen BA
Special Email Price: $82.95
Only 2 bottles available!
No compare at pricing available
BA is short for "Beerenauslese" and it is one of the noblest of German dessert wines. These are full 700ml bottle of BA for about what a half-bottle of the current vintage would sell for! If the vineyard "Brotenhofchen" isn't exactly as famous as the Doctor, for the money there isn't a better deal in a solid German sweet wine from a great vintage in great shape.
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1963 Karthauserhof Kronenberg Auslese
Special Email Price: $199.95
No compare at pricing available
Few Rieslings age with as much mineral-driven mystery as a Karthauserhof - a 1966 Spätlese (yes, Spätlese) tasted recently was not only a testament to how well these wines age, it drank like a glorious elixir from the mountains. There is something magical about this Carthusian monastary tucked up into the Ruwer Valley... We should add that the bottles themselves are in stunning condition - photographs available upon request.
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2001 Kesseler Rudesheimer Berg Schlossberg Spätlese Trocken
Special Email Price: $29.95
No compare at pricing available
This is a serious deal in a Rheingau dry from an awesome site - broad and powerful. Not much of this to go around so first come, first served.
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2002 Sybille Kuntz Wehlener Sonnenuhr Spätlese Trocken
Special Email Price: $29.95
No compare at pricing available
J.J. Prüm has made the Wehlener Sonnenuhr one of Germany's most famous sites, though dry Rieslings from this landmark-vineyard are not terribly common. Sybille Kuntz is a great underrepresented producer with wines that have great clarity and mineral expression.
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1989 Max. Grünhaus Von Schubert Herrenberg Auslese #93
Special Email Price: $178.95
Compare at $200-$300
John Gilman, View from the Cellar: "The 1989 Von Schubert wines are amongst my favorites from this vintage, and the Fuder 93 Auslese from the Herrenberg is a gorgeous bottles that is beginning to drink very well indeed, but is still climbing in quality and will be even better with a few more years bottle age. The bouquet is blossoming beautifully and offers up a complex blend of apple, pear, lilacs, wild yeast tones, beeswax, a great complex base of slate tones, incipient notes of the Herrenberg cress to come and a delicate topnote of spring flowers. On the palate the wine is medium-full, long, pure and beautifully focused, with zesty acidity, superb complexity and a very long, ethereal and dancing fnish. As good as this wine is to drink today, I would still tuck it away in the cellar for another five or six years to allow all of its secondary layers tom emerge on both the noese and palate. A lovely, lovely wine."
1989 Max. Grünhaus Von Schubert Herrenberg Auslese #137
Special Email Price: $178.95
Compare at $200-$300
Von Schubert uses a complex numbering system for their wines - each represents a different Fuder (barrel) or parcel within a specific vineyard. More important is the vineyard designation; the "Herrenberg" tends to be bigger, broader, while the "Abtsberg" is more refined and mineral. Across the board, however, 1989 was a great vineyard in the Ruwer, the cooler climate giving the wines a great definition while the ripeness of the vintage gave the wines luscious fruit. Just superb examples of aged Riesling at incredible prices.
1989 Max. Grünhaus Von Schubert Abtsberg Auslese #96
Special Email Price: $184.95
Compare at $277
Von Schubert uses a complex numbering system for their wines - each represents a different Fuder (barrel) or parcel within a specific vineyard. More important is the vineyard designation; the "Herrenberg" tends to be bigger, broader, while the "Abtsberg" is more refined and mineral. Across the board, however, 1989 was a great vineyard in the Ruwer, the cooler climate giving the wines a great definition while the ripeness of the vintage gave the wines luscious fruit. Just superb examples of aged Riesling at incredible prices..
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1976 Rudolph Müller Reiler Sorentberg TBA
Special Email Price: $183.95
Only 4 bottles available!
No compare at pricing available
Here we are at the noblest of the noble - the famed "Trockenbeerenauslesen" or TBA. This is the highest art form of the German sweet wine, with selections, literally, being done berry by berry. 1976 was one of the 20th century's greatest TBA vintages and so there is a lot of potential here. So why is this bottle not $1,500 like the J.J. Prüm 76 TBAs? Well, R. Müller doesn't quite have the same reputation and while the town of Reil is probably very lovely, it's not exactly on the short-list of greats (for those of you very curious about the geography here, Reil is in the Mosel, further downstream close to Bremm and Alf.) All things considered, however, this is a STEAL for the vintage and Prädikat.
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1997 J.J. Prüm Wehlener Sonnenuhr Auslese
Special Email Price: $77.95
Compare at up to $81 in the U.S. - PRE-ARRIVAL
This was the shocking "Wine of the Night" at a big dinner at Bamboo Pavilion in Bensonhurst held just a month or so ago. Although for a Prüm this wine is still incredibly young (at only 12 years old), it is a beautiful wine with ripe, luscious, incredibly seductive fruit and such finesse and length. Yowzer. This is pre-arrival!
1996 J.J. Prüm Wehlener Sonnenuhr Auslese
Special Email Price: $69.95
No compare at pricing available in the U.S.
A leaner, more classic vintage this wine is undoubtedly young and very taut. More bottle age - or a healthy decant - will bring this into fine form though. A steal in back-vintage Prüm.
1990 J.J. Prüm Wehlener Sonnenuhr Auslese GK
Special Email Price: $299.95
No compare at pricing available in the U.S. - PRE-ARRIVAL
Now we are getting very, very serious indeed. The 1990 Prüms are powerful, super-concentrated wines with Aleutian Trench-like depth. The bottles are in spectacular shape, pictures are available. Only a few bottles are available, but these are spectacular wines for the collector's cellar. Alas, they are pre-arrival.
1983 J.J. Prüm Wehlener Sonnenuhr Auslese GK #9
Special Email Price: $317.95
No compare at pricing available - compare at over $400 in Europe - PRE-ARRIVAL
Legendary German Riesling - Prüm's 1983s are simply epic wines and the Gold Capsules (GK) are exceedingly difficult to find from this vintage - we are the only people in the U.S. to currently have any 1983 Prüm at all. The AP#9 seems to be a late-release, taken out of the Prüm cellars in 1987. A simply awesome wine with a lot of potential for further development in the cellar, so if you can, grab a few and put some away for the holidays 2015. These wines are pre-arrival.
1983 J.J. Prüm Wehlener Sonnenuhr Auslese GK #6
Special Email Price: $317.95
No compare at pricing available - PRE-ARRIVAL
Legendary German Riesling - Prüm's 1983s are simply epic wines and the Gold Capsules (GK) are exceedingly difficult to find from this vintage - we are the only people in the U.S. to currently have any 1983 Prüm at all. A simply awesome wine with a lot of potential for further development in the cellar, so if you can, grab a few and put some away for the holidays 2015. These wines are pre-arrival.
1983 J.J. Prüm Wehlener Sonnenuhr Auslese
Special Email Price: $179.95
Only 5 bottles available!
No compare at pricing available
Not quite as concentrated and lavish as the Gold Capsules (GKs) above, but still, phenomenal wine. As stated, the 1983 Prüms are just legendary German wines - a *very* fun bottle for the holidays.
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1975 S.A. Prüm Wehlener Sonnenuhr BA (375ml)
Special Email Price: $156.95
No compare at pricing available
S.A. Prüm made some solid wines in the 1970s and these half-bottles are in perfect form.
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1975 Adolf Rheinart Ockfener Bockstein Auslese Eiswein
Special Email Price: $148.95
No compare at pricing available
Before 1983 or so all Eisweins had to be labeled with their ripeness level - thus we have the "Auslese Eiswein" labeling. A solid producer and a great site in the Saar. The label is slightly bin soiled yet the capsule shows no corrosion and the fill is great.
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1994 Dr. Thanisch Bernkasteler Doctor Auslese
Special Email Price: $79.95
Compare at up to $140
The "Doctor" is one of Germany's most famous sites - its wines are powerful with deep fruit and very fine concentrations. This is bold Riesling. The 1994 vintage in the Mosel was superb and these bottles are just steals.
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1976 Dr. Thanisch Bernkasteler Doctor BA
Special Email Price: $156.95
No compare at pricing available
BA is short for "Beerenauslese" and it is one of the noblest of German dessert wines - this has to be one of the steals of the email, and here's why: 1976 is a legendary botrytis vintage. The Doctor is one of Germany's most famous sites, known for its rich, luxurious Rieslings and current releases of BA tend to be in the $70-$100 range for HALF-BOTTLES! A lovely example of mature BA at a silly, silly price.
1976 Dr. Thanisch Lieser Schlossberg BA
Special Email Price: $123.95
No compare at pricing available
BA is short for "Beerenauslese" and it is one of the noblest of German dessert wines. This bottling is for the German wine geeks out there because the Lieser Schlossberg is one of the Mosel's less known sites. The village of Lieser however, is coming back to prominence (largely because of the efforts of Thomas Haag at Schloss Lieser) and the village's terroirs tend to produce rich, ripe wines with an earthy-mineral note. Another STEAL for a BA from this vintage.
1971 Dr. Thanisch Bernkasteler Doctor Auslese
Special Email Price: $133.95
No compare at pricing available
Although less famous than 1976 - at least for the BAs and TBAs - 1971 is an vintage exceptional vintage of great power and structure; the wines have proven to be exceedingly long lived. The bottles we've had from this vintage have been exceedingly fresh, with great clarity and form.
1971 Dr. Thanisch Bernkasteler Doctor Spätlese
Special Email Price: $88.95
No compare at pricing available
Although less famous than 1976 - at least for the BAs and TBAs - 1971 is an vintage exceptional vintage of great power and structure; the wines have proven to be exceedingly long lived. The bottles we've had from this vintage have been exceedingly fresh, with great clarity and form.
1969 Dr. Thanisch Bernkasteler Doctor BA
Special Email Price: $169.95
No compare at pricing available
BA is short for "Beerenauslese" and it is one of the noblest of German dessert wines. The 1969 vintage is more famous in the Rheingau, though it should be said the sweet wine harvest in the Mosel was very, very good and this is another one of those crazy BA steals. So we won't say much here... only 2 bottles available and these are rarer than hen's teeth.
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1983 Von Kesselstat Neumagener Sonnenuhr Spätlese
Special Email Price: $47.95
No Compare at pricing available in the U.S.
Want to experience the magic of aged Riesling without spending a fortune? That's where these lovely Spätlese come in. The Neumagener Sonnenuhr vineyard is about as famous as the Neumagener Nusswingert, which is to say, not famous at all. Neumagen, however, is in the Middle Mosel (very close to Dhron, for those who know and love AJ Adam like we do) and the wines are typically Middle Mosel.
1983 Von Kesselstat Oberemmeler Scharzberg Spätlese
Special Email Price: $47.95
No compare at pricing available in the U.S.
Want to experience the magic of aged Riesling without spending a fortune? That's where these lovely Spätlese come in. Oberemmeler is up in the Saar Valley, so this wine will show a bit more tension and acidity than the Neumagener Sonnenuhr. We couldn't find anything about the site, though the similarity in the vineyard's name with the famous "Scharzhofberg" makes us think this is likely some extension of that hill, some less productive exposure... In any event, this is NOT going to have the depth and complexity of an older Scharzhofberger, but it will be delicious.
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1976 Von Othegraven Kanzemer Altenberg Auslese
Special Email Price: $99.95
Only 1 bottle available!
No compare at pricing available
The Kanzemer Altenberg is a fantastic site, extremely steep, south-facing. This could be a spectacular bottle of Riesling and honestly, if it isn't sold today I'm going to buy it and drink it myself because I'm dying of curiosity and I haven't had any old Von Othegraven.
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2001 Weil Spätlese #6
Special Email Price: $37.95
No compare at pricing available
Weil is one of the current greats in the Rheingau; here we have a few bottles of a little treasure from the 2001 vintage, specially priced.
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1976 Zilliken Ockfener Bockstein Auslese GK #19
Special Email Price: $195.95
Only 1 bottle available!
No compare at pricing available
A great vintage for Zilliken and while the Ockfener Bockstein is less known, talk to a German wine geek and he's likely to say the Bockstein is the better of the two sites. We have only one bottle of this which is in spectacular shape - no corrosion on the capsule, great fill.
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Net / No Further Discounts
Most wine will be available for delivery Monday, December 7 - some is pre-arrival
See individual items for details