Two Affordable Aged Riesling Gems from the Producer with the Highest Rated Dry Wine in Germany

After looking back at all Mosel vintages since 2001 up to the current 2014 vintage I have to say, leaving 2001 out of the discussion, that 2008 is by far my favorite. I'm not saying I don't like the

Picture by Eder Gonzalez

other vintages but what I am saying I will choose the 2008 all day if you give me a vertical from any notable producer in the Mosel. It is kind of sad that this is my favorite as it is more of a statement on how different Mosel wine is now that it was in the 60's, 70's and 80's. Even the 90's. You typically had 6-7 high acid, nervy vintages a decade, but from 2000 to 2010 you had 01, '04, '08 and one could include 2010 but the fruit is too ripe and the extreme nature of the vintage procludes me from including it. So that is 3 right there.

Now let's go back a decade more to the 90's. We have 1998, 1996, 1994, 1993, 1990. That is 5 with 1990 bearing a family resemblance to 2010. Each decade you go back you have more "classic" vintages back to back. But then it just started getting warmer in the Mosel and the prized sites were making extreme wines. I don't care much for much modern Erdener Pralat, for example, because they all are just too ripe as that vineyard gets hotter now than ever. But the vineyards in not so famous areas and valleys adjacent to more famous sites are really shining in vintages like 2008 due to this phenomenon. As they sometimes struggled to ripen, now they are evolving beautifully. Martin Muellen, was a Fass Selection cult favorite before the Wine Advodate (now he's a star) and he still has a tiny bit of stock from 2008, and I will continue to sell it until he runs out.

Martin Muellen's 2008's in a word, are extraordinary. Today I have a duo of Spatlese Trockens that are some of the best deals I have offered all year. Where else can you get direct from the estate wines from one of the 2 greatest vintages of the decade. You can't. Only from me. I was skyping with a very well respected Mosel winemaker and we were chatting about Martin Muellen and I mentioned that I wanted to, when I was in the Mosel, go to the top wine store and taste some of these new famous middle Mosel dry wines made by very famous names. I won't mention any names here obviously. He interrupts me and says "Don't waste your money. Martin's wines are 30-40 times better than any of those other guys wines. Those are good to average industrial wines." My friend is not one to mince words, but even as Martin has gotten accolades in the Wine Advocate from Stephane Rheinhardt, he is still somewhat of an unknown and I think it's because you cannot approach his wines like other Mosel estates. All of Martin's wines need much more air than you think they need. Get a number in your head you would air out a very nice bottle of white burgundy and add 2 hours and then you will hopefully drink most of the bottle when it is wide open and receptive. They are slow to reveal themselves and can be somewhat frustrating for the non initiated, but they are so worth the wait. He has supplanted JJ Prum as the #1 Riesling holding in my cellar, despite my best attempts to drink them and keep my hands off them at the same time. They all age ridiculously long. Think Von Schubert. His '98 Abtsberg QBA is a wonder now if you can find it. Many of you have been drinking and enjoying the 98 Krover Paradies Auslese Trocken, which needs hours of air and still has 5-10 years left, which is in a similar vein to the Von Schubert QBA, but obviously riper because of the Auslese designation.

You can how excited I am about today's offer as Martin Muellen's cellar is the gift that keeps giving. The first wine is the 2008 Krover Paradies Spatlese Trocken, which can be had for as little as $19.99 a bottle on a 4-pack. Which is just silly. Man, German Riesling is such a great value, I really hope it never goes up. This would be $50+ in Burgundy. Martin has 1.2 ha in the Krover Paradies which is his second largest holding. Krov is a town in the Mosel that gets overlooked (many negociants and growers not concerned with quality sullied Krov's reputation) but the Krover Paradies is a terrific vineyard that is extremely stoney and Martin Muellen easily makes the best wines from this great site. This 2008 is barely entering secondary flavor land and has glorious 2008 electricity on the palate with tremendous green apple and citrus fruits. It has very dark minerality and slate to burn, with exceptional packed 2008 flavors and density this is just a profound bottle of Riesling. This is limited.

Up next is a wine that I have offered once before but Martin still has a little left and since there are so many new people on the list and maybe older people who have drank all theirs, I am psyched to offer the 2008 Martin Muellen Trarbacher Huhnerberg Spatlese Trocken for as little as $24.99 on a 4-pack. This is from Martin's top site. This is his Wehlener Sonnenuhr. His GG. His whatever you want to call it. This wine has more the structure of a young great white burgundy than a Riesling. Here is a terrific note on this wine from a happy customer who is also a winemaker in California, Loren Sonkin.  I chose Loren's note because it's exactly what this wine is. Still barely showing any secondary notes, but with so much fruit and density. You are tripping over old vines in this vineyard. There is citrus oil that coats your palate on a bed of slate. The finish is deep and endless. There is a purity and depth that is just remarkable here. After this offer there likely will be no more Martin Muellen 2008's at the estate and I only have a little of both, so stock up!

2008 Martin Muellen Krover Paradies Spatlese Trocken - $22.99 

($79.96 on a 4-pack) (Limited)

2008 Martin Muellen Trarbacher Huhnerberg Spatlese Trocken - $27.99 ($99.96 4-pack) (Limited)