2016 Dr. Pauly-Bergweiler Riesling Spatlese Wehlener Sonnenuhr Mosel Germany 750 ml

The size of Mr. Bergweiler’s hands didn’t seem quite real. We had spent the morning with him touring the estate vineyards from which this bear of a man crafts some of the most energetic, mineral white wines on earth, and had just gotten settled into a table at his winery in Bernkastel. Standing before him was a line-up of bottles that would make even the most jaded wine pro’s heart skip a beat: Rieslings from some of the most iconic vineyards throughout Germany—the equivalent of French Grands Crus.

The juxtaposition was incredible: How had wine of such precision and detail been crafted by hands that looked about ready to crush the Riedel glass they were holding

We had our sights set on one particular wine in the lineup, the single-vineyard 2016 Dr. Pauly-Bergweiler Riesling Spätlese from the Wehlener Sonnenuhr site in the Mosel, which we knew would be an instant favorite for our members. By the time we left, we had a deal.

What enamored us was this particular Riesling’s plush and mouth-filling texture and vivid layers of orchard and exotic fruits, with its medium-sweetness balanced by vibrant acidity and a smokey finish. While most wines in the market are into the 2017 and 2018 vintages, finding acid-rich gems still housed in German cellars is too good an opportunity to pass up, and one from Dr. Bergweiler’s Wehlener Sonnenuhr vineyard—a glorious piece of land and one of the most pedigreed Riesling sites in the world—is thrilling.

The deep, weathered, grey, and blue Devonian slate—layered sheets of blue slate that formed over 400 million years ago—forces the vine roots to extend very deep into the earth to find water. This special slate “soil” warms quickly and early in the day, absorbing and storing solar heat which radiates back to the vines during the cool evenings, yielding perfectly ripe, intensely flavored grapes even in this cool climate. 

Aside from the soils, Wehlener Sonnenuhr’s vines are rooted on southwestern facing slopes—the Mosel’s classically steep hillsides that rise straight up from the river—and have a spectacular view of the village of Wehlen, an impossibly beautiful town. The Romans knew 2,000 years ago that this was prime winegrowing land (one of Dr. B’s neighboring sites literally translates to “Kingdom of Heaven”). 

In 2016, the site delivered a rich and powerful Spatlese Riesling. This is not a zinger like a Trocken or Kabinett, this is a late-picked, lush in texture, medium-sweet beauty that comes to life when paired alongside spicy foods like spicy pork chops, or anything pan-Asian. Its balance of acidity and sweetness makes it versatile enough to breathe a new world of sensation into rich double and triple cream cheeses, and could even lay down for another 10 to 15 years as it develops intricate complexities.