Willi Schaefer Graacher Himmelreich Riesling Kabinett 2023

Profile & Story

Weingut Willi Schaefer is a small (about 4.2-5.5 hectare), fourth-and-fifth-generation family estate in Graach on the Mosel, with documented winegrowing history dating to 1590. Christoph and Andrea Schaefer, who met studying enology at Geisenheim, have run the estate since 2015, continuing a philosophy focused on taste and feel rather than numbers -- natural-yeast fermentation and hand harvesting from up to 100-year-old ungrafted vines on steep, weathered Devonian slate. The estate's parcels lie in two celebrated crus, Graacher Domprobst and Graacher Himmelreich, plus Wehlener Sonnenuhr. Himmelreich's weathered slate-and-clay soils give wines that are, in the Schaefers' own words, 'more fruity and charming' than the spicier, wilder Domprobst -- widely considered the ideal introduction to their Rieslings.