Jayson Cohen
Jayson Cohen
Some thoughts on Schaefer before the tasting note.
In my view no Mosel grower has been more consistent and consistently outstanding over the 23 years I’ve been cellaring German Pradikat Riesling than the Schaefers. So it’s not surprising that in my cellar, which is more than a quarter Riesling, I have more Schaefer than any other grower. I fully credit Sasha for hounding me early on in our friendship to steer toward Schaefer, and at some point starting in the mid-oughts, I started filling a Schaefer hole in the cellar and kept piling on, buying both new releases and backfilling.
It doesn’t hurt that Willi and Christoph are equally talented growers and winemakers. The wines have gone from strength to strength.
I think the Domprobst Kabinett is always one of the best Kabis in Germany, but it typically takes about 15 years to strut its stuff, the wine always structured to age. Still, I like to got a sneak peak in the blush of youth. This bottle opens a bit sponti, limey, and reduced. It wasn’t really until day 4—last night, and after a lot of bottle shaking—that I got a clear picture of how good and perfectly balanced the wine is. The aromatic set strays toward lime curd, green apple, and caraway right now with a tactile sense in the mouth of powdery fairy dust and soothing whipped cream spreading the flavors over the palate. The back end of the midpalate is firm and the finish is long, the flavor sense lingering. This should be utterly profound in 12-15 years.
In my view no Mosel grower has been more consistent and consistently outstanding over the 23 years I’ve been cellaring German Pradikat Riesling than the Schaefers. So it’s not surprising that in my cellar, which is more than a quarter Riesling, I have more Schaefer than any other grower. I fully credit Sasha for hounding me early on in our friendship to steer toward Schaefer, and at some point starting in the mid-oughts, I started filling a Schaefer hole in the cellar and kept piling on, buying both new releases and backfilling.
It doesn’t hurt that Willi and Christoph are equally talented growers and winemakers. The wines have gone from strength to strength.
I think the Domprobst Kabinett is always one of the best Kabis in Germany, but it typically takes about 15 years to strut its stuff, the wine always structured to age. Still, I like to got a sneak peak in the blush of youth. This bottle opens a bit sponti, limey, and reduced. It wasn’t really until day 4—last night, and after a lot of bottle shaking—that I got a clear picture of how good and perfectly balanced the wine is. The aromatic set strays toward lime curd, green apple, and caraway right now with a tactile sense in the mouth of powdery fairy dust and soothing whipped cream spreading the flavors over the palate. The back end of the midpalate is firm and the finish is long, the flavor sense lingering. This should be utterly profound in 12-15 years.
