The Best of the Vintage?
2009 Schloss Lieser
Niederberg Helden GG
Lowest Pricing in the U.S. by Nearly $10
"...many reports are circulating that the Schloss Lieser 2009ers are amongst the greatest wines produced in Germany this year."
-John Gilman, View from the Cellar
I am a die-hard Schloss Lieser fan, still... I did not expect this wine to be quite as good as it is.
To be perfectly clear: This is one of the greatest dry Rieslings I've had this year... from the 2009 vintage or any other.
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The style here is fierce and taut. While 2009 was a ripe vintage, the Niederberg Helden GG is a piercing wine that shows cool, blue-green tones matched to a dense, tactile mid-palate. It feels as if some manic pastry chef had somehow whipped up pure slate into an airy and dancing mousse.
Thomas Haag has a masterpiece in this wine: The 2009 Helden GG is ever so linear - straight as an arrow and just as penetrating with rocket ship peach and apricot, a crisp edging of salt and lime zest, weathered slate and stone.
The 2009 Niedeberg Helden GG has something of the grip and density of Trimbach's famed Clos Ste. Hune, at something around a $100 discount.
Today, we present a small parcel we've tucked away for some time - the pricing we're able to offer is the lowest in the U.S., by a long shot.
The goal was to show what happens to these great "Grand Cru" dry Rieslings with a bit of space to spread their wings. It was so worth it.
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Thomas Haag's Schloss Lieser has gone from a rather small, overlooked estate to a cult producer in short order. The estate just doesn't produce enough wine to boldly declare "Back Up the Truck" or anything like that - but this wine is not to be missed!
German wine dorks will buy quickly and buy long, that much is certain. But this wine deserves a greater audience because it displays, it flaunts, what the Mosel Valley does so well: Intensity of flavor, clarity, purity, balance, finesse... all on a razor-sharp, porcelain-like framework.
This is high-tension, tight-rope walking Riesling! It just doesn't get any better.
Based on the string of just *awesome* vintages for Lieser, I'd say the estate is edging its way into the blue-chip wine elite, right there with Egon Müller and Klaus-Peter Keller.
Every year, the notices I get from the importer come earlier and earlier: This year, I've already placed my order for the 2011 GGs. They are sold out at the estate and they won't be released until September!
So here is a unique chance to back-fill, to experience what these grand wines can achieve (and really, this is just the beginning of a very long story) - so consider the 6-pack pricing and bury 3 or 4 in the cellar for another 5-10+ years.
To order, please email us at offers@crushwineco.com or call the store at (212) 980-9463.
Stephen Bitterolf
Wine Director
Crush Wine & Spirits