WILLI SCHAEFER GRAACHER DOMPROBST SPAT

A wine capable of ageing for decades with bright acidity, citrus, spice, peach and baked apples. Incredible wine and a must for collectors

2019 Willi Schaefer Graacher Domprobst Riesling Spätlese #5 Mosel
SKU #1510657
95 points John Gilman
Outer quote mark The 2019 Domprobst Spätlese AP #5 from the Schaefer family is a touch richer in personality than the AP #10 from the same vineyard, but not with retaining the same beautiful filigree of classic Spätlese. The bouquet is deep, precise and quite expressive for a young Domprobst, wafting from the glass in a blend of pear, fresh apricot, orange blossoms, slate, incipient notes of honeycomb, violets and a topnote of lime zest. On the palate the wine is pure, fullish, complex and perfectly balanced, with bright acids, lovely focus and bounce and a long, refined and juicy finish. This is another gorgeous Spätlese. It is as approachable out of the blocks as the Himmelreich Spätlese, but given this terroir’s propensity to close down for long aging, I have to believe that this is a brief window of accessibility before it settles in for a bit of hibernation before really starting to stretch its wings. So try it over the next year, or bury it for another six or seven years before starting to drink it in earnest. 2020-2070+. Inner quote mark (9/2020)

95 points Robert Parker’s Wine Advocate
Outer quote mark The 2019 Graacher Domprobst Riesling Spätlese #5 is clear and coolish on the flinty nose that represents perfectly ripe and precise fruit with some minty notes. Lush and piquant on the palate, this is a pure, tight, refreshing, stimulatingly piquant and salty and finessed Spätlese with a lot of grip and expression. Tasted from AP 5 20 in June 2020. 2019 is a great vintage for this tiny icon producer in Graach. Christoph and Andrea Schaefer were even able to select a (dry) Grosses Gewächs from the Himmelreich, and I am curious to taste the result as soon as possible. However this wine will show, the sweet predicates are hard to beat. They are absolutely brilliant and possibly include some of the finest I have tasted here. Just look at the several selections from the family’s Domprobst holdings! A great Kabinett, three highly finessed Spätlesen, three savory Auslesen and even a Beerenauslese! Namely, Schaefer’s Spätlesen (Domprobst #5 and #10) and Auslesen (Domprobst #14 and Himmelreich) are extraordinary, and you don’t have to go to the auction in Trier in September to prove it. Due to the cold autumn and the healthy grapes, there was even time to sort for a Beerenauslese in the Domprobst, which is another highlight of the vintage and based entirely on healthy yet overripe grapes. The 2019 Prädikatsweine show Willi Schaefer at its very best. (SR) Inner quote mark (8/2020)

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