Vollenweider: Prädikats of the Vintage?

"The recent changes to the estate are quite simply breathtaking!" -Mosel Fine Wines, July 2026

It's not an outrageous question to ask: Is this the greatest Mosel Prädikat collection of 2025?

Scores are, of course, subjective and slightly absurd, but the recent Mosel Fine Wines reviews are provocative - only von Schubert and Weiser-Künstler even come close to Vollenweider.

Willi Schaefer alone sits more or less side by side with Vollenweider - in the end, the difference is style, not quality. Willi Schaefer presents a more baroque elegance, Vollenweider, a more linear and incisive thrill.

It is the thrill, the nearly ferocious thrust and force of the Vollenweider Prädikats - concentration matched to mineral matched to acidity - that we present today!

Moritz Hoffmann and Vincent Ewest have taken this estate to new levels over the last two years; it is a story of renaissance and rebirth after Daniel Vollenweider's passing.

Their canvas is the formidable Wolfer Goldgrube, an amphitheater of a vineyard filled with very old, ungrafted vines. This part of the Mosel presents wines with more poignant acidities, a perfect scalpel upon which to balance the precise interplay of residual sugar and acidity.

The magic here is that the Kabinetts feel nearly dry, the Spätlese light and airy enough for the main course, the Auslese dense and coating, yet airy and ultra-fine. Note that there are two Kabinetts on offer today - one is sourced exclusively from ungrafted ("Wurzelecht" in German) vines. Also note that the Auslese only comes in 375 ml, the perfect format for the sweeter wines.

In the stunning 2025 vintage, this is something of a blockbuster show, with deeply concentrated fruit matched to rigorous, almost angular acidities. The plush and forceful fruit is whipped across the palate and then cleansed by a mineral finish that endures.

If only Willi Schaefer matches Vollenweider on the scores, the style of the wines themselves presents more in line with that of Julian Haart or Max Kilburg.

But what can we say? You'll have to taste for yourself.

This will likely prove to be a defining vintage for Vollenweider. While the wines are built to last in the cellar, it remains to be seen how long they will last in the market.

To order, email offers@crushwineco.com or call the store at (212) 980-9463.

Joe Salamone
Wine Buyer
Crush Wine & Spirits