Today, we present a small tranche of Stein's legendary Palmberg Kabinett Trocken, all sourced directly from Stein's cellar in the Mosel.
Dr. Ulrich "Ulli" Stein has, in the last decade, become one of the most coveted and cult-ish German winemakers, and his Palmberg is his most beloved Grand Cru site filled with ungrafted Riesling vines well over 100 years old.
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As I wrote years back when this wine (vintage 2020) was one of our Wines of the Year: "This is one of the great marriages of vineyard and winemaker."
Today, we offer an amazing second-chance look at one of Stein's masterpieces and, arguably, one of the great dry Rieslings of Germany's Mosel Valley.
For nearly two decades, Stein has been a staff favorite. There are few winemakers anywhere as fascinating as Ulli and few whose wines offer such whispering honesty. This is as soulful as winemaking gets.
The 2022, with three years of perfect cellaring, remains extraordinarily youthful. While it has a mineral-laden glaze of citrus and stone fruit, it remains very linear and even lithe on the palate. Again, and always, the hallmark of Stein's Palmberg is a dense mineral core, a certain density paired with an amazing finesse.
At its best, Kabinett Trocken is one of the most singular wines on earth - it combines intensity with weightlessness and shocking finesse.
The point, after all, is the lightness. A Kabinett Trocken is the translation of a specific vineyard in its most essential (and lowest-alcohol) form.
Stein, for nearly 50 years, has been the Mosel Valley's master of this style.
Yet there is serious material here, serious concentration. This wine will age gracefully for another decade and longer if you can bear not to drink it.
To order, email offers@crushwineco.com or call the store at (212) 980-9463.
Joe Salamone
Wine Buyer
Crush Wine & Spirits
