It's like clockwork. A few weeks after the shipments go out and people start tasting through their deliveries someone will open an old bottle of Martin Müllen and get blown away. Then an excited email will come in with glowing reviews of the old Müllen bottle. And then I go into my speech. What is this speech you may ask? It's quite simple. Yes, that old Martin Müllen wine is brilliant BUT what the estate is putting out now (from 2011 on IMHO) is leaps and bounds better than what what the estate was putting out in '95, '96, '97 and '98. The recent vintages are also such utterly remarkable values (maybe even more so given the serious uptick in quality) that for a little over $100 a 4-pack you can get wines that will age and improve for 20+ years that have a Grand Cru quality to them. Easy. Maybe longer. I love these wines. There is an emotional impact that the brilliant Mosel Rieslings of Martin Muellen have that cannot be quantified in points and can barely be described by words. His wines have that thing that makes people who like them, not just like them, but love them with a devotion that can only be described as fanaticism. I have more Martin Müllen in my cellar than any other producer I import. I am putting my money where my mouth is. I think every 2011/2012/2013/2014 Müllen I've sold will age and blossom into something even more special than what these are in their youth. In 15-20 years everyone will be talking about the current crop of wines in hushed tones and reverence that they speak about the 95-98's that I've sold. I think another reason I love these wines is they are like nothing else. They are not only delicious but distinctive and like no other Riesling and like no other Mosel. Stephan Rheinhardt of the Wine Advocate is a huge fan and sums up Martin very well below and what he is doing and aiming for.
"Martin Müllen is one of the most interesting, individual wine growers in the Mosel. Originated in Kröv, but located in Trarbach for many years, he is handcrafting wines similar 100 years ago. Müllen says he was always deeply impressed by the site and its 50- to 100-year-old vines. "The same old, un-grafted vines we are cultivating today made Mosel Riesling world famous four generations ago. I wanted to see how modern Mosel Riesling can taste when we produce it from the same vines and in the same way like our ancestors did." So Müllen started handcrafting what he calls "true natural wines": with no additives or other manipulations." - Stephan Rheinhardt
Every wine Martin makes is a value and with me buying direct the value is just silly. Martin's 14's I've raved about before and I will rave about them again today. They are absolutely stunning wines with remarkable depth and incredible finesse and in some cases, record levels of dry extract, which means you are entering flavor country. They will age for a very very long time. As all of Martin's wines can age will but the 13's and 14's I think will be long long distance runners while the 11's and 12's can be cellared for just not quite as long. 14's are just so good here. The precision and special quality of each wine in the collection is remarkable. And all that dry extract. It's like I was listening to Nas' Illmatic for the first time with dope track after track but instead it was Martin Müllen's beautiful and emotional 14's and he was serving me magical elixir after magical elixir.
Up first is the 2014 Martin Martin Müllen Krover Letterlay Spatlese Trocken for $24.99 on 4 bottles and because I believe in this wine so much I am offering a special case price of $22.99 which is absurd for this wine. Rheinhardt gave the '13 93+ and the '14 is better. It has more finesse in my opinion and also a skoche more precise. I had them side by side this past August at the estate. The wine is so clean you cannot believe it. It has such a nice floral nose and so many other nuances that you cannot believe this is $23! There is a serene zen like character to this wine and all of Martin's 14's and it does that magical thing Martin's wines do which is be bone dry analytically and have crazy high acid yet also be luscious and appealing. The minerality is fluid throughout. The finish is endless and beautifully delineated. There is also a bit of sponti aromas from indigenous yeasts that I live for! The structure for a wine that is $23 is insane. Just remarkable wine. This can and will age for 20+ years. Sappy, dense and light at the same time. I could sell this for $45-$50, and not blink, which is what it would be 3-tier.
Up next I have something that is just so impressive. One of those so called "monument to the vintage wines." The 2014 Martin Müllen Krover Steffensberg Spatlese feinherb** for as little as $29.99 a bottle on the 4-pack. What a wine. It is almost a solid in your mouth. No one does feinherb like Martin. As his acid levels are so high they come across like other producer's trockens. This is very perfumed and aromatic. Very pure and slatey nose. Sick intensity and depth. The little bit of added sugar (15-17 grams RS) make this very appealing now in its youth but it also has massive structure and the Müllen acids are there, albeit slightly more hidden than usual. There was an iota of ultra clean botrytis in the wine which adds to the complexity. There is some serious extract here and this is where the whole monument to the vintage talk comes in again. This will last easily for 25+ years and has an almost solid texture in the mouth. In a word amazing. And $30? Just silly
Below is Stephan Rheinhardt's review (92+)
"Picked with a high proportion of botrytis, the flinty-flavored 2014 Kröver Steffensberg Riesling Spätlese ** feinherb opens with a clear, bright and fresh quince aroma intertwined with ferrous slate flavors. This is very fine and elegant, as well as concentrated on the palate; there are stewed quinces and mirabelle plums, but also a very well defined mineral acidity. This is a fruit-intense and well structured Riesling whose botrytis give it a nice and creamy texture that is countered by the piquant and salty acidity. This wine drinks very well at the moment, but needs another 5-6 years to reveal its true talents." - Stephan Rheinhardt (92+)
2014 Martin Muellen Krover Letterlay Spatlese Trocken -
$26.99 ($99.96 4-pack, $275.88 case price!) (LIMITED)
2014 Martin Muellen Krover Steffensberg Feinherb** - $32.99
($119.96 4-pack) (VERY LIMITED)
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