Stein "Palmberg" Riesling Kabinett Trocken, Mosel, Germany 2023

FROM VOM BODEN:

THE WINE: The Palmberg is Stein’s “Grand Cru” and a vineyard to measure against any other vineyard in the Mosel, period. It is an awesome site, an ancient wall of vines filled with ungrafted plantings that are 90+ years old. The Palmberg is cut on one side by a stream, so the vineyard angles away from the Mosel. In former times this was likely a liability, the cool wind pouring down the valley and the distance from the river keeping optimum ripeness in all but the top vintages just beyond grasp. This is no longer an issue and these cooler vineyards, especially when they have old vines, are a massive asset. This wine is ruthless, cut, mineral, fresh and phenolic. It is quite simply one of my favorite wines of this vintage and it will age, easily, for 10-20+ years.

THE PRODUCER: No one – NO ONE – has met Dr. Ulrich Stein ( “Ulli”) without at least developing a slight crush on the guy. He is brilliant, passionate, incredibly fun, perhaps a bit manic and does nothing… nothing, that is easy or obvious.

Ulli is a true bohemian who lives in a beautiful 19th century inn – Haus Waldfrieden, photographed to the right from an old postcard – on the top of a mountain overlooking the Mosel. Ulli owns the inn; it is his home. While the inn doesn’t really function as an inn (you can’t actually book rooms there, unless you’re a friend) it is always filled with people, with a random assortment of thoughtful eccentrics, famous musicians and artists, a couple just back from photographing Jewish delis in New York, a family making a month-long sojourn from Berlin down to Sicily and back. The common thread? They all love Stein wine; they all love Ulli.

In my first profile of Stein, from ten years ago, I wrote the following line, which is fascinating as a document of a time since past: “Ulli’s wines are not widely known in the U.S.”

The fact that now, a decade later, Stein’s wines have never been more coveted and appreciated, is deeply rewarding to us. After a half-century of producing unflinchingly mineral wines, Ulli deserves the touch of stardom he is now receiving. Like Hofgut Falkenstein, another grower that consistently championed ruthlessly dry wines when the only avenue of commercial success seemed to be to make wines with a bit more schmalz and sugar, Stein has gone from near-total obscurity to some degree of fame.