In the spring of 2024 we went to Germany, mostly the Moselle, for 5 beautiful days. Our first stop was Vollenweider and we were greeted by the kind and gentle Moritz--winemaker and owner. We stepped into his stone walled, freezing cold cellar and tasted through the whole line up of his 23's that were recently bottled. The Goldrube Kabinett was showing somewhat ample and ripe on the palate at the time--it was good, but not all in one place and a bit too ripe for our palates. Flash forward 4 months and we cracked this bottle once it arrived stateside and every dimension of this had changed. Gone are the botrytis notes and richness and what arrived in the glass is a delicate, chiseled, slate infused beauty.
Vollenweider is quite simply, among the greatest practitioners of Kabinett on planet earth, part of a very small and elite group including Julian Haart, Egon Müller, Keller, Weiser-Künstler and Willi Schaefer – the young Julian Ludes of Hermann Ludes may join the ranks soon enough, but right now these are my five. Try and buy as much of this as you can.
The estate was founded Daniel Vollenweider, an outsider, who LOVED Riesling and the underdog vineyards of the Mosel with every single fiber of his being. Sadly, Daniel passed way too soon, in July of 2022. A huge loss for the wine community. Knowing that a successor would need to continue his legacy and luckily Moritz was waiting in the wings. Moritz is a humble, young, talented winemaker with a deft touch with the fruity styles and the drier style as well. Daniel worked with many old, ungrafted vines and treated his farm with the utmost care. He left a legacy of beauty and integrity. Now Moritz has an opportunity to spread the beauty of Daniel while also forging his own way forward.
