2023 Weingut Schloss Lieser – Thomas Haag, Riesling Kabinett, Juffer, Mosel, Germany.
Kabinett Riesling is having a moment in the spotlight and are some of the most pleasing lighter framed and easy to love whites in the world, with this brilliant 2023 Schloss Lieser Juffer version showecasing why these wines are having a modern revival, displaying crystalline purity, delicate sweetness and freshness. I was very excited to taste Schloss Lieser recently in San Francisco and this one was a thrill with its slate terroir of the histroic Brauneburger Juffer cru showing through with smoky, mineral and spicy character influence behind the peach, tangerine, green apple and fleshy melon fruits. The low alcohol, juicy Juffer Kabinett, coming from some un-grafted vines with 70+ years of age, is a fabulous effort and a delicious Summer sipper that brings nothing but smiles, it delivers the class of this vineyard in a no pretense, but is a serious and sublime quality effort. The wines at Schloss Lieser, as noted in my prior reviews, are almost all done in stainless steel and are exceptionally pure terroir driven efforts, as this drier Kabinett Juffer 2023 clearly shows. It was a pleasure to go through the latest set of wines with Lara Haag, who is one of the latest generation of this famous Mosel family led by her dad Thomas Haag.The Schloss Lieser Rieslings see no skin maceration fermentation(s) that are always spontaneous and the grapes a a cool, gentle pressing as to not allow for bitter phenolics and the must is allowed to take as long as needed to finish, sometimes about 6-10 weeks. Then the wine ages on the lees for 4 or so months, after which it racked to tank to further mature and is only bottled when it tastes ready to do so. There’s an incredible array of talent in the Mosel these days and Schloss Lieser has eagerly joined the ranks of top producers and these latest releases, mostly 2022 and 2023 vintages, really are stunning.
The historic Schloss Lieser winery, which dates back to 1904, is known locally to have one of most striking buildings in the Middle Mosel and it is beautiful Neo-Renaissance castle that was built in 1875, but it was known for its wine until recent times under the leadership of Thomas Haag, who’s father Wilhelm Haag is an important figure in German wine and the owner of Weingut Fritz Haag. Thomas decided to stay and lead Schloss Lieser instead of take our his father’s estate, which is run by the also very talented winemaker Oliver Haag, Thomas’ brother. Thomas became the director of the estate in 1992 and has slowly revamped this special small estate with some prime Grosse Lagen vineyard parcels, including the Lieser Niederberg Helden and the well known Brauneberger Juffer Sonnenuhr (Sundial), which provides some elite old vine Riesling grapes. One of the most prized of vineyards, the steep Brauneberger Juffer, is set on classic decomposed Devonian slate and capable of producing monumental and structured wines, as seen in the Haag family’s GG version, which dry Riesling fans need to put on their bucket lists. The Haag family, as mentioned here in my previous reviews, with the new generation of Lara and Niklas, both of which studied at Geisenheim University in the Rheingau, the top wine-making school in Germany, have a hand in making the wines now. Also notable is that they have added other top quality vineyards to their portfolio, including Graacher Himmelreich, Wehlener Sonnenuhr, Bernkastler Doktor and Graacher Domprobst, helping fill out the fantastic collection here. The extra care and effort here, in each and every bottling, including this lovely Juffer Kabinett, really pays off and these Schloss Lieser wines are exceptional and very rewarding Rieslings, with the traditional off dry, sweet and dry styles to chose from, to keep an eye out for!
($35 Est.) 93 Points, grapelive