Weiser-Künstler Riesling Feinherb 2023
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Press 4 Mix/White • September 2024 Direct Press Selection
“We leave them up there to scream, to get over their fears. I instruct them to focus on what’s in front of them, one vine at a time. Then when they finish, they can look down.” So terrifying are the heights of the Ellergrub vineyard near Enkirch that this is the method Alexandra Künstler employs with acrophobic harvest workers perched precariously above the Mosel. However, this same feature, steep terraces with 15-foot walls in some sections, helps maximize sunlight exposure. Konstantin Weiser and Alexandra Künstler also lay claim to a high percentage of old, ungrafted vines in each of their sites, over 110 years old in vineyards like Ellergrub and Gaispfad. Of course if you want to work these sites organically as Alexandra and her partner Konstantin Weiser do, the labor required is far more taxing than on flatter, gentler land. The Mosel is one of the more difficult places to be an organic winemaker in the world, making these wines all the more special.
Their 'Feinherb' bottling is their most approachable and is sourced from a few different sites. Though technically off-dry, you will be hard pressed to detect much sweetness underneath the ripping acidity. Theirs is an uncompromising style that always cuts right to my soul, and where other wines might veer towards expressing power or coming across as severe, the Weiser-Künstler wines are raw in a way that is life-affirming in their nervous, sizzling manner. Lime pith, lemonheads, angel food cake, and a pungent, stony mineral core that smells like your standing right beside the Mosel River. This is a mouth-watering, invigorating Riesling that might permanently warp your feelings about Riesling, so be warned. It's one of the best vintages I've had in recent years. Their last names, Weiser and Künstler, respectively mean wisdom (hence the owl on the label) and art (hence the art nouveau design). Their wines also reflect both wisdom and artistry as well as any wines I know. Jonathan Kemp
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