Willi Schaefer in the afternoon
Tucson, AZ
Tasted September 3, 2022 by cct with 82 views
Introduction
A few of us got together to drink some Willi Schaefer on a hot summer afternoon in Tucson. A few of the usual suspects and new guests AM and WM joined the fray. Altogether a pretty good way to spend the day.
Flight 1 - Himmelreich starter (1 note)
I figured a starter dry wine would help fresh the palates. We had to take a few steps out of Domprobst to Himmelreich for this.
A fresh, light, and floral nose of slate, more citrus than orchard fruit, subtle florals. There is a delicacy to the nose. On the palate, It's stony and soil driven on the palate but delivered with a textural softness. That said this is not soft, just the fine textural feel to a rocky wine of subtle and sneaky intensity. Lime, citrus zest, almost pithy fruit, more slate, subtle savory green herb, with some almost oyster shell notes coming but day three that for me had echoes of a warm vintage Freddy Emile. I think this handles the ripeness of the vintage well, but I do not think everything here is in complete harmony. It did gain focus over three days. It is very good, even outstanding by day three. I would love to have another bottle to try in a few years to see what happen, but sadly I bought only one. 90 points by day three
Flight 2 - Mature Spatlese (1 note)
I was really hoping this would be a terrific bottle and great kickstart to the tasting, but all no.
A mature, honeyed nose with orchard fruit, quince, slate and petrol notes. This bottle is fully mature and then some in this format (at least this bottle). Softer around the edges and fully mature. On the palate, it's honeyed, floral, with softened acidity, lovely mature RS, and soil notes. Alone, it was more of an intellectually appealing wine that still spoke of its soil, but it was truly outstanding with an aged Gouda. That said, it was a shadow of an electric magnum I had in 2012. It held up without much change for three days in the fridge, so I'm wondering if there is another reason aside from the format and the decade between. I sourced this bottle from Dee Vine a few years after release and the other bottle elsewhere and earlier. I have had too many heat damaged bottle form Dee Vine to be certain if this is the wine in this format or the provenance. I've got one more of each format and will find out sometime soon. Still very enjoyable but a pretty big relative disappointment with regards to expectations. If I were to score it, I would say 87 by itself, 90 with the cheese, but I am going to withhold judgement based on my concerns.
Flight 3 (3 notes)
I thought it would be a fun turn to compare two pradikats from the same year and then a segue to the same AP number pradikat of another year. This was my favorite flight. This flight was where the the terroir came into greatest focus and spoke the clearest. I love the higher pardikat wines in '10, but what impressed me was It also was how well '10s showed at a lower pradikat. No pointy elbows, just harmony and vivid detail.
An electric nose. Fresh, bright and beautiful. Slate, honey, florals, with just the early hints of petrol. On the palate, it is crystalline, mouthwatering, and pure with wonderful fruit: lime and some apricot, with terrific balance of acid, RS, fruit, and soil. A seamless, gorgeous wine full of joy. Effortlessly delicious. 95
Incredibly similar to the '10 Kabinett. Same fruits, same florals, same slate, it just has more density, intensity, and depth, even if it is not quite showing all its cards. It's mouthwateringly fresh, pure and seamless, with a wonderful interplay of fruit, soil, RS and acidity. Another wine with a sense of harmony. This is seems like the Domprobst Kabinett just dialed up a bit. It's delicious right now, but I suspect it will be even better little down the road when it hits its full stride. It all seems to be there, and everything seems poised and in place. Terrific wine and a beautiful study in terroir. 94+
A beautiful, fresh and floral nose, delivering the same wonderful slate soil notes as the other wines today. This seems to walk the line between the two previous wines. It has the lift of the 10 G-D kabinett and the weight somewhere between that and the '10 G-D Spatlese #5. For me, it has the electric beautiful acidity and lift of the kabinett, more of the same lime, apricot, beautiful honeysuckle florals, but has a little more depth and intensity, yet retains the playfulness that I adore in the kabinett. I think the '10 Spatlese may be the best wine of the three in time, but today the '13 seems to be in the slot. Yet another effortlessly beautiful wine. Drinking beautifully with plenty of time in hand. A joyful glass of wine. 95
Flight 4 - Auslese (1 note)
A lone '01 Auslese. I thought this wine showed well. I am not sure for their relative ability to excel that the house killed it in '01, but this was a lovely drink.
A last glass a week later had softened a touch around the edges, but still maintained its balance and sense of ease. Outstanding, if not profound. 93
Closing
This was a terrific lineup and very educational. All the wines save one showed well. The one Himmelreich wine, while a dry wine showed the contrast in fruit profile between itself and Domprobst well. The unifying these of Domprobst was impressive across all the Domprobst wines.
It wasn't like hearing the same song played by different artists with different riffs, it was more like the same song by the same artist played at different volumes or maybe a bit more bass or treble. I think for me this was the great lesson in the terroir. It was as if we were drinking the same wine just in different modes. In this afternoon, Graacher Domprobst was the center and to see it manifest itself so consistently across vintage and pradikat was enlightening. It also is a testament to the wonderful stewards of this privileged piece of earth. Thank you Familie Schaefer!