2018 Wegeler Riesling Mosel 750 ml

Sourced from a jaw-dropping lineup of Grosse Lage (Grand Cru) sites in the golden heart of the Middle Mosel, now over a decade old, Wegeler’s 2018 Riesling is well on its way to apogee. It boasts incredible complexity: A mesmerizing nose leads to a palate of exotic flavors and knife-edge balance. 

Wegeler has been one of Germany’s outstanding producers since the late 1800s. One look at their vineyard holdings in the Mosel shows you why. From their perch in the prestigious town of Bernkastel, they farm vines in a slew of the region’s hall-of-fame sites: names like Bernkasteler Doctor, Wehlener Sonnenuhr, and Graacher Himmelreich. Those are all Grosse Lage (Grand Cru) vineyards, producing wines that easily command $70+ per bottle.

And when they took Riesling from those starry sites and added them to fruit harvested from the Bernkastel Badstube—a famous einzellage (district) in its own right—Wegeler had all the raw materials to make a fantastic bottle in the 2018 vintage. They delivered big.

2018 was a warm and sunny growing season, with an early harvest that wrapped up well before the autumn chill. The wines came out ripe, expressive, and immediately appealing, yet many top examples still show impressive structure.

Now, the wines, especially this Wegeler, have absolutely blossomed. It’s basically a Kabinett without the label—the estate only uses the Kabinett designation for single-vineyard bottlings—which means it’s discreetly sweet. Balanced by bright acidity, the wine is at an absolutely beautiful point in its aging curve right now.