Trarbacher Huhnerberg Spatlese Trocken
- His Best Terroir
- An Aromatic Rockstar
- Remarkably Elegant with Classic Mosel Profile
Krover Paradies Spatlese ** "Deare"
- One of the Mosel's Great Spatlesen
- Amazing Fruit with Balanced Sweetness - Amazingly Mineral and Complex
My Rant
I'm going to start off with a little rant. It's been a while that I've ranted in an email. So it's been four
years and one thing I always say is that prices will be going up. There are so many reasons why prices go up but usually you can't stop it. The dollars crashes, the winery gets more famous and they can charge more are just two of many reason. Look at Chavy Chouet, Jerome Galeyrand, Herve Murat and Domaine Duroche. They have all skyrocketed since I started at Fass Selections. Now to dip outside Fass Selections for a little bit as there is one noticeable example of prices that have not gone up, and that is German wine. There is incredible price stability in German wines and I'm really not sure why. Keller, Egon Muller, Julian Haart and Schafer-Frohlich are examples of wineries whose prices have gone up significantly since I've been open. They keep going up as well. But most German wines don't go up, or if they do it is so incremental as to not be noticed. This brings me to our own Martin Müllen whose prices almost stand still in time. He has gained so much fame since we started with him as one of our original growers, with huge reviews in Vinous, the Wine Advocate, Mosel Fine Wines Report and even James Suckling! It's unreal how famous he is, yet he doesn't raise his prices and he could, and still sells entirely direct to consumer. These should be amongst the most expensive wines in the Mosel yet they are still among the lowest for the better producers. They are among my favorite whites in the world. I am bringing only Martin Müllen's Rieslings to a desert island. I am in awe how good they are how highly rated they are and how nothing has changed. The way it should be but never is. I have no idea when German prices will go up and if they will but they have to, don't they?OK, now that the rant is over, on to the offer. Old time listers know Martin Muellen. He's located in a part of the Mosel that was formerly a back water (the Traben-Trarbach area) that is now home to some of the hottest wineries in the Mosel. When we first started selling his wines, he was an unknown here in the states. Now, he is a darling of the critics and one of our most popular winemakers. For good reason. He makes wines of shimmering balance that have some of the best terroir expression in the book. Today I have two under $30 high scoring 2015 Martin Müllen Rieslings. Add two more to the pile. Both of today's wines are top of the heap and so cheap I cannot believe it. I'm taking a case of each. In this reality or timeline Martin's wines are this cheap, but I suspect in other realities and other timelines they are among the most expensive wines in the world.
(P.S. If you are not an old time lister and have not had his wines, you are really, really missing out.)
Up first is a stunning example. The 2015 Trarbacher Huhnerberg Riesling Spatlese Trocken for $27.99 a bottle on a 4-pack. I mean, what??! This got 93 pts from Stephan Rheinhardt of the Wine Advocate and is under $30. Just insane. From one of the greatest vineyards in the Mosel and easily Martin's top site this wine is gorgeous as the sun really shined on Huhnerberg in 2015. The wine is stunning. Amazing aromas that are classic Huhnerberg. Spice bazaar, intense citrus, smoke, salt, minerals and more minerals. Gorgeous and deep aromas. Keeps getting more and more nuanced as it opens and aerates. Palate shows the miracle that is 15 Müllen and Huhnerberg. Every wine made from this site kills in 15. This is so utterly refined and crackling with energy and intense and super salty and slatey minerality. Amazing acids and crazy vivid fruit and spice. Cuts such a swath on the palate. Such, sap, balance and refinement. A masterful wine and a top example of dry Riesling from this vintage. Do not miss this. Below is the 93 pt WA Review.
"Picked from the fourth terrace and with a bit of botrytis, the 2015 Trarbacher Hühnerberg Riesling Spätlese Trocken is beautifully flinty on the nose. Silky textured, round and intense, this is a very complex and powerful yet also pure, elegant and finessed Riesling with lots of salt and grip in the long finish. Due to the freshness and mineral tension, this is a perfectly balanced dry Spätlese. This 2015 is unbelievably fine and has enormous vitality as well as great aging potential. Just 11.5% alcohol." 93 pts. Stephan Reinhardt, The Wine Advocate
Now something for the people who like a bit of RS in their wines. I think this is the 4th or 5th fruity pradikat wine I've sold from Martin in 15. A few Kabinetts and now the 3rd Spatlese. 2015 is that great at Müllen that I will sell as much as he will give me. The wine today is kind of a cult classic amongst the staff at Fass Selections' and my partner, Matthew's favorite sweet Spatlese in the world. I am honored to offer the 2015 Krover Paradies Spatlese ** "Deare" for $25.99 a bottle on a 4-pack. The 2015 is just sickness in a bottle. A 35 year wine. It's so cheap I cannot even deal. It got 93+ points from the notoriously stingy David Schildknecht in the latest Vinous German writeup. What a nose! Floral, mineral and so ripe yet so refined and complex. An amazing amazing nose that is so classically Mosel Spatlese. Insanely clean. So pure. A joy. The palate is jaw dropping with its extraordinary balance. Incredible pear and quince notes withclassic Muellen citrus acidity and, of course, that trademark Mosel crushed rock minerality. It has stunning intensity yet it is so light and filigreed. The length is astounding. God damn this is so good. Ridiculous. So balanced, so sappy and so pure. Buy cases of this.
"From an especially stony section of Paradies, whose nickname Müllen decided to add to the label, this "two-star" Spätlese features overripe pear and quince garlanded in decadent lily for a headily aromatic, lush, caressingly creamy palate performance. Fortunately, an influx of fresh lime and an infusion of crushed stone serve for liveliness and counterpoint, and the soaringly buoyant finish reveals myriad mineral nuances, incisive invigoration from raw ginger, and abundant floral perfume. The sense of sweetness here is subtle and entirely supportive, so it comes as a surprise to realize that the wine harbors 59 grams of residual sugar. Obviously it knew what was good for it. "This just stopped fermenting at that point," related Müllen, "and promptly clarified itself as if to say, 'Okay, I'm ready, take me!' "" 93 pts. David Schildknecht, Vinous Media
2015 Martin Muellen Trarbacher Huhnerberg Riesling Spatlese Trocken - $29.99 ($111.96 4-pack)
2015 Martin Muellen Krover Paradies Riesling Spatlese** "Deare" - $27.99 ($103.96 4-pack)
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