When Wine Goes Out of Bounds - The Legend of Ludes Continues - Legendary Rare 1993 Auslese for under $40 Direct From The Cellar

 1993 Hermann Ludes Thörnitscher Ritsch Auslese
 - To Get These Tertiary Flavors, You Normally Need to Spend Hundreds in Burgundy and Then Age the Wines for Decades
 - From the Old Vines in the Thörnicher Ritsch
 - One of the Greatest Vineyards in the Mosel
 - Nose - Among the Most Complex of Any Wine I've Had This Year 
 - Spice, Leather and Smoke
 - Floral, Confectionary
 - Green Apple and Apricot
 - Dried Lemon Rind
 - Hint of Black Truffle
 - Palate: Juicy and Complex
 - Incredible Depth
 - Stains the Mouth
 - Rock Candy Explosion, Lemon Oil
 - Telltale Porcini

 - A Hint of Foie/Game

Note: I very rarely get a 25+ year old wine to sell.  Wines with this level of age are fundamentally different from most wines.  I encourage you all to at least try a bottle.  If you have cellar room, I would buy as much as you can reasonably store.  There is not an infinite amount of 25+ year old Riesling left in the Mosel.

The Joy of Out of Bounds

In sports, of course, going out of bounds is a bad thing. But in wine, I use it to mean a wine that defies expectations. That blows through the standard flavor definitions for that category. 

Quite often that can only come with age. As wine properly rests, it's main and traditional flavors recede a bit.  They change into new things. And rare wines can become drinking experiences that most of us are lucky to have a few times in our lifetimes. And if we do,  it is because we have purchased and stored a wine for at least a couple of decades.

Normally, to get tertiary flavors like truffle, porcini and foie gras, you have to spend hundreds of dollars on White Burgundy and then store it for decades for those flavors to come out.  

Today's wine 

 - Has been stored at the estate for 27 years.

 - It is from a legendary vintage in the Mosel.

 - It is from one of the great vineyards in the Mosel.

 - It's from an elite winemaker who was overlooked because he was in an "unfashionable" area of the Mosel.

The Legend of Ludes

We have sold enough Ludes to a vast array of people all over this country and the wines have become
legends. They are legends. They are consistently mind blowing. They are priced so ridiculously low that it's silly. They have depth, filigree, purity and every single older one I've ever sold can age for 25+ more years! Yes. Today, for a perfectly stored 28year old wine it will be under $40 for a bottle and even less for a case. Finding old German Riesling like this from a top estate is nuts. It's beyond rare. We had Licht-Bergweiler early on, but that dried up pretty quickly and it's gone forever. Then we had the older Müllen wines and they are all gone and right now we are all experiencing the legendary Ludes time. Once the older Ludes wines are gone I have no idea where I will get more direct from the cellar Older German Riesling. This category doesn't grow on trees. 

The Wine

Onto the wine. The other Auslese I sold was from 1994 and from a vineyard called Bruderschaft and while being a very good vineyard it's not from the old vines that Ludes farms in the Thörnicher Ritsch which is their "A" vineyard and the star of the show. This is arguably one of the greatest vineyards in the Mosel. I've had enough younger and older versions now to say this.  It is an elite vineyard in the hands of Ludes. He owns this vineyard in a way that few winemakers own vineyards. But as Müllen is to the Hühnerberg and JJ Prum is to the Wehlener Sonnenuhr, Ludes is to the Thörnitcher Ritsch. The benchmark producer of an elite vineyard. 

I really like 1993 in the Mosel. It's an above average vintage and has terrific acids and freshness. Between Franken and the Mosel is where 1993 really shined. 93's are rare and I'm very lucky to have a nice stash of 1993 Hermann Ludes Thörnitscher Ritsch Auslese for $39.99 a bottle on a 4-pack and $37.99 on a case. This is a steal. Not a deal. An over the top steal. Gave this a 9.7 on Delectable and followed it for 3 days. This wine is stunning and you have to remember that an Auslese in 1993 is like a Spatlese or even richer Kabinett in a vintage like 2019. This is a classic Auslese in that it finishes almost dry. The wine is to die for and needs mega air like all Ludes wines to. I find it was at its best on day 2. Consistent with all the older Ludes bottles I've had. Day 2 is always better. 

Nose has spice, leather and smoke. Wow. Sawdust. Floral. Confectionary. Elite. So so complex. Just dizzying. Some green apple and apricot. Jellied. Layered. Smells just incredible. Hint of petrol. Hint of black truffle. As this airs the nose gets mega black truffles and so complex. Porcini. Sick.  But Day 2 it got crazy. The nose is just over the top complex with tobacco, smoke, truffles, rainwater, slate, dessiccated lemon rind and so round. 

Palate is to die for. Juicy and complex and stains the mouth with confectionary flavors based on minerals. Like a rock candy explosion, then a juiciness and serene, delicate but precise texture. Knee buckling stuff! Terrific mid palate density and wonderful leather, smoke and spice flavors and even a hint of foie/game. Elite. So great. Palate is getting younger with air. More grip, more density, more structure and concentration. Finishes dry. This is old school Auslese. As this airs, loads of lemon oil as well and so much depth. The telltale porcini as well. Wow, that's a palate! Round, yet fresh and energetic. It's like a ball of confectionery lemon lime flesh rolled in a ball of mineral, petrol and slate. Stunning.

Drink now and over the next 15+ years.

1993 Hermann Ludes Thornicher Ritsch Auslese - $41.99 

($159.96 4-pack, $455.88 12 bottle case {$37.99!})

(*Including tariff of $4.04)