I was in the Mosel Valley, Germany, in November last year. For family holidays in the first place. But if you’re reading this, chances are high that also you choose your holiday destinations in a way that you can visit a winery or two… Everybody happy (that’s what I tell myself), win win for sure!
And even if you don’t like Mosel wines, the region is absolutely beautiful. Think of the most picturesque wine landscapes you can think of. Well, that’s the Mosel valley. Vineyards as far as you can see, crawling up some of the steepest hillsides I’ve ever seen in a wine region. Only to be interrupted by tiny white villages here and there. Impressive!
The Mosel is riesling land, of course. And even though I like riesling, I never really had a chance to explore riesling in great detail. All the more reason why I definitely wanted to squeeze in a visit or two. I visited the wineries of Markus Molitor and Gunther Steinmetz. I will tell you more about the stunning tasting I had at Molitor’s another time, because today I had my first riesling of Gunther Steinmetz since my visit in November. It was the 2015 Kestener Paulinshofberg. 2015 is hailed as a very good vintage, combining ripeness with good acidity. So I was happy of course that I could sample the 2015 Rieslings at Günther Steinmetz’. For your information, don’t look for Günther in case you visit. It’s his son Stefan who’s in charge now and who makes the wines. I saw Stefan on his way out when I arrived, because there was work to be done in the vineyard. It was All Saints’ Day, so most people don’t work then, but that’s not the case for winemakers. When there’s work in the vineyard, it’s need to be done! So I tasted his wines with Sammie, his wife. Sammie is actually American and quite new to the wine business. But she obviously learned really fast. I was impressed by her knowledge, and I had a great tasting. My German is lousy, by the way, so that was very convenient…
Before I go further, let me just share today’s experience with the Kestener Paulinshofberg. When I tasted it in November, it was still a bit closed, so I was happy today to see that it had opened up quite a bit. The nose was very fine, with mineral aromas and pine apple at the first sniff. But more came out after a little while, with lemon, aniseed, spring flowers, orange zest and sage. Yes, sage! I think that’s the first time I spontaneously smell that in a wine. Lovely nose. The wine confirms what I had read about the vintage : ripe fruit, but also very fresh. The tension that I love in Riesling was also nicely present here. Not a very long finish, but a wine I really enjoyed with the Asian style salmon we had for dinner. The great thing about this wine is that you get bang for your buck. This bottle cost 12,50€ at the winery. And that’s what I like so much about the wines of Stefan. They are pretty darn good, and they don’t set you back too much. Unfortunately, I can’t say the same about the wines of Markus Molitor. Outstanding for sure, but a bit more expensive…
I will not go through all my tasting notes but just give you my favorites :

• Dhroner Hofberg 2015 : another price/quality stunner. At first there was animality in the nose, but then came beautiful aromas of grapefruit, wisteria and honeysuckle. Not completely dry, but good acidity to balance the wine. 11€.
• Wintricher Ohligsberg GW 2015 : White pepper, a bit timid still, but then also citrus coming through, a touch of safran, and a hint of petrol. This is still young, but great potential. I expect this to age nicely. Can’t wait to see how this will turn out in a few years. 17€.
• Piesporter Goldtröpfchen Spätlese 2015 : This was Sammie’s personal favorite and I had no problem seeing why. While the nose is still a bit reductive, it is also very subtle, with a hint of petrol beginning to come through. The wine is creamy, rich, with pine apple and again great acidity to keep this wine in balance. Even though this is a Spätlese (generally a sweeter style), the freshness of the wine is beautiful. Everything I expect from a Riesling. 15,50€.

So in a nutshell : the wines of Stefan Steinmetz are really beautiful. He makes more dry wines than sweet wines, but I liked both, the sweet wines being real charmers! The wines were still very young, but I expect them to evolve really nicely, developing more depth and complexity. I will tell you in a couple of years how they turned out. If I will be able to wait that long…

Hopefully, Stefan will keep his prices at this level. His wines receive very positive reviews and are being served in New York restaurants. So I’m obviously not the only one who appreciates his wines. Time will tell. In the meantime, I got myself a little stash…