Willi Schaefer 2021

Cult Mosel Rieslings from ‘hallowed ground’ (Decanter)

From a mere 4.2ha in the Mosel, Weingut Willi Schaefer continues to craft some of the world’s greatest white wines. The Schaefer family’s mineral, crystalline and extremely long-lived Rieslings have developed a cult-like following, and their popularity is further enhanced by the wines’ extreme scarcity.

‘The 2021 Rieslings are wines for two, three or even more generations!’ enthuses Stephan Reinhardt of the Wine Advocate, and ‘Christoph Schaefer [of Willi Schaefer] … has set monuments and real benchmarks in 2021.’ It was a testing year for viticulture, with yields down 35-40%. Despite the challenges, 2021 marks a return to the ‘cool classicism of finely carved, bright, mineral-driven wines’ (Decanter).

As ever, we bought everything we could get our hands on and are delighted to offer the 2021 Willi Schaefer Graacher Riesling Trocken and 2021 Willi Schaefer Graacher Riesling Feinherb. The 2021 Trocken is full of verve and depth. It’s ‘almost floating in its delicacy on the nose’, writes Jancis Robinson, while the Wine Advocate calls it ‘saline and crystalline … a promising dry Riesling’. Their 2021 Feinherb is complex and a ‘beautiful off-dry Riesling’, says the Wine Advocate. It has ‘great energy and presence … a truly remarkable dry-tasting wine’ (Mosel Fine Wines).