Stein "Himmelreich" Riesling Kabinett Feinherb, Mosel, Germany 2024

FROM VOM BODEN:

THE WINE: Consider this Stein’s “1er Cru” vineyard; though it’s a 1er Cru vineyard with 70 to 80+ year-old ungrafted vines and a serious terroir of mostly blue slate. This is the “other” Himmelreich and similar to its more famous sibling in Graach, the wines from this site always show a slimmer profile, a pronounced mineral fine-ness and lift. With only about 15 grams RS (just beyond dry), this is a wildly restrained and chiseled, old-school “Feinherb.”

THE PRODUCER: Ulli (and now his young protégé Philip Lardot) farms meaningful parcels of land that have a few important things in common: They are not easy to work. They are commercially unknown and therefore (most likely) barely financially viable. Finally, and most importantly: Ulli has to love them. Stein is more than a winemaker - he is a passionate advocate for the traditional, steep, slate vineyards of the Mosel. Winemaking with Ulli is refreshingly light on "style," on some idea projected into the vineyards, and more about what the vineyards say to him. Certainly there is a focus on wines that are dry; lightness and zip are more important than gobs of fruit. Cut is more important than size. One last note of importance, due to his belief in the importance of old vines the family never grafted to phylloxera- resistant rootstock in the 70s when this practice was the norm. So Ulli now has a profound collection of ungrafted vines, farming around 10% of the ungrafted vines in all of Germany. In 2016 the young Philip Lardot moved to the Mosel and was taken in by Ulli. Philip found a mentor and a deep connection to the Mosel in Ulli Stein; meanwhile Ulli found just the right person to carry the torch at this curious estate. Philip, of course, makes his own Mosel wines in a style close to the style of Stein's "Ohne", Ulli will phase out these wines to give Lardot more space. Thus the 2019 "Ohne" is the last still "Ohne" Stein will release.