Willi Schaefer, DANCING
on Your Thanksgiving Table
A Magical Kabinett from a Magical Vintage,
Special Monday Back Up the Truck!
"...left me salivating uncontrollably... I'm not sure I'll outlive it, but those who can ought to contemplate saving some for 25 years from now. Just make sure you have lots for in-between too!" -David Schildknecht, Wine Advocate
This is a mighty Monday "Back Up the Truck" with special Thanksgiving pricing available only on this single parcel of 2007 Schaefer Kabinett, received directly from the cellar of Willi Schaefer himself.
As Schildknecht suggests (above), this wine is stunning now - our white wine pick for the Thanksgiving table - but it will also develop in the cellar to join you for Thanksgiving 2034, should you have the patience.
More than any other Prädikat level (Spätlese, Auslese, etc), Kabinetts are the wines that dance delicately across the palate and that pair - superbly - with so many diverse dishes. These are the ultimate dinner table wines, little jewels that shiver with a featherweight clarity.
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Yes, as we approach the Thanksgiving table, one of the most schizophrenic food-stages in the world, you will be well-armed with Willi Schaefer's 2007 Himmelreich Kabinett. This Riesling presents a riveting play in savory and sweet, in ocean breezes mixing it up with honeydew melon and tangerine, minerals scattered left and right and everywhere else - a quivering acidity that cleanses the palate and leaves one...yes..."salivating uncontrollably." It is these qualities (not to mention its lightness at only 8% alcohol) that will leave everyone at the Thanksgiving table feeling invigorated even after the most ruthless (and unending) march of cranberry-this and fennel-studded-that.
Make no mistake about it, this is one of the world's great white wines - to focus solely on the versatility of this wine is to do it a gross injustice. Willi Schaefer and his son Christoph farm only 4 hectares; they keep the estate small so they can be present and focused for all the details, and it shows in the rigor of these wines, from the QbA up to the Auslesen and beyond. The 2007 vintage, as has been stated by the critics around the world, was near picture-perfect - supernaturally long hang-times with a fall that looked like Walt Disney had written the script himself. (To the right, the view from the front door of the Schaefer estate in Graach.)
The harvest in 2007 at Weingut Schaefer lasted until mid-November and though the entire collection is superb, we might agree with Schildknecht (even discounting our own slight bias towards the lighter style of Rieslings) that the Kabinetts are where it's at. Schildknecht wrote the following about the 2007 Schaefer Kabinetts: "This year’s Schaefer Kabinetts represent outstanding values. But more than that, they display by turns delicacy and density, jewel-like intricacy and simplicity, elective affinity for our appetites and mystery, such as only a great work of nature confers. And if you prefer that they taste less sweet, just don’t start drinking them before they reach age ten!"
So why are these wines so affordable - so ludicrously undervalued? One reason is surely the relentless 21st Century pursuit of the obvious, the powerful and the epic - a philosophy that essentially claims bigger is always better.
Today, we focus on the "finer" things and unapologetically offer up this Mosel Kabinett gem. The collectors of Germany's finest wines are already replying to this email, yet we *highly* recommend this wine to anyone who wants to experience what all the fuss is about. One parcel only, direct from the cellar of Willi Schaefer.Email us at offers@crushwineco.com or call the store at (212) 980-9463 to order.
This 2007 Schaefer Kabinett is available for Thanksgiving!
Stephen Bitterolf
Joe Salamone
Wine Buyers
Crush Wine & Spirits
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Wine Advocate: "Marine language remains very appropriate for the Schaefer 2007 Graacher Himmelreich Riesling Kabinett A.P. #9, which delivers not just a tangy whiff of the sea to accompany its apple blossom, clover, and honeydew melon, but also an irresistible, invigorating, saline, sweet, bay scallop-like savor that left me salivating uncontrollably. The spring-fed Himmelreich, opines Schaefer, is especially conducive to stress-free and gradual ripening, with concomitant extract and high, ripe acidity, all of which seems to apply in spades to 2007. No wonder this Kabinett was served last. I’m not sure I’ll outlive it, but those who can ought to contemplate saving some for 25 years from now. Just make sure you have lots for in-between, too!"
Wine arrives tomorrow - available for Thanksgiving!
Net / No further Discounts