Vinopolis Newsletter 10-7-24 PM

 

 
The Kult Wines of Weingut Keller

 

“Julia and Klaus-Peter Keller are undoubted rockstars of the German wine scene” –Anne Krebiekl MW, Vinous Media
 
Famously heralded by no less than the great Jancis Robinson as “The German Montrachets,” Keller is a wine known for inspiring superlatives. A totally unique phenomenon in wine, these coveted bottles are cultivated in the Hügelland, an otherwise notably middling region of the Rheinhessen. It is a mystery just how they do it, but vintners Klaus-Peter and Julia Keller have harnessed the soils of the region to create some of the greatest wines in all of Germany.
 
First, let’s look at the GG’s! Ultra-exclusive and highly acclaimed!
 
Keller Westhofener Brunnenhauschen Abts Erde Riesling Grosses Gewachs, Rheinhessen, Germany 2022 750ml $299 special, 2 bottles available
Anne Krebiekl MW-Vinous 98 Points “The 2022 Riesling Westhofener Brunnenhäuschen Abtserde Grosses Gewächs has half red-tinged limestone and half pale limestone. It is the spot with the most active limestone in the soil, so the vines really struggle to reach nutrients, which also expresses itself in millerand aged bunches with lots of tiny, concentrated berries. The site benefits from constant ventilation. The nose is a tease of crushed citrus leaf with a slight backdrop of reduction. The palate is more rounded than the nose suggests, imbuing its essentially zesty nature with riper notions of peach skin, tart, red-cheeked green apple and greengage. The finest zestiness pervades all. The 2022 is highly aromatic, tense, toned, elegant and absolutely zesty. It’s astonishing to have such coolness in 2022.”

 
Keller Westhofener Morstein Riesling Grosses Gewachs, Rheinhessen, Germany 2022 750ml $599 special, 2 bottles available
Anne Krebiekl-Vinous MW 98 Points “The 2022 Riesling Westhofener Morstein is from 75-year-old vines that were field-grafted over to Riesling in 2009 (halt to Pinot Noir, half to Riesling). The nose is rather muted. Just a glimmer of lemon freshness shines, with a suspicion of reduction. The juicy, chalky palate expands somehow vertically into deep limestone chalkiness and inherent coolness. For now, there is just lemon. Everything else seems locked deep in that limestone freshness and cool profoundness. It will take time to allow the undoubted fruit to loosen itself from the austere stoniness and come to the surface. The extended finish comes with lemon zest and pith.”

 
Next, let’s explore the rest of the offerings… like all Keller wines they provide an unparalleled level of intensity and clarity with a signature pop of minerality. In fact we’d say there is nothing else like them in their price range… and we are offering these wines at the lowest price on the West Coast!
 
Keller Gruner Silvaner Trocken, Rheinhessen, Germany 2023 750ml $29 special, 6 bottles available
 
Keller ‘Vom Muscheligen Kalk’, Rheinhessen, Germany 2023 750ml $34.50 special, 18 bottles available
Vom Boden Importer Notes  “A silky and noble Cuvée by the Keller’s son Felix, of Pinot blanc, Chardonnay and great old Silvaner parcels.”
 
Keller Limestone Riesling Kabinett, Rheinhessen, Germany 2023 750ml $44.50 special, 2 bottles available
Vom Boden Importer Notes “This wine is all in the name—Limestone—perfumed and delicate and an absolutely a salty, piquant delight of a wine.”
 
Keller ‘Von der Fels Riesling’ Trocken, Rheinhessen, Germany 2023 750ml $49 special, 6 bottles available
Vom Boden Importer Notes ” ‘Von der Fels’ is the young-vine fruit from the Grand Cru vineyards and, year after year, is simply one of the great values of not only German wine, but of white wine at large. A Riesling of pronounced limestone character.”
 
Keller Muskateller Landwein Trocken, Rheinhessen, Germany 2023 750ml $51.90 special, 6 bottles available
Vom Boden Importer Notes “Bone dry, and clocking in at only 10% alcohol, the wine is racy, bouncy, needle-fine and incisive, superbly detailed with citrus and a sweet-spicy florality, like orange blossoms and lavender, freshly cut tulip stalks and lilac. Yet the wine has restraint, focus, a lovely and polished mineral spine, even a good amount of salinity crackling around.”
 
Keller RR Riesling, Rheinhessen, Germany 2023 750ml $79 special, 3 bottles available
Vom Boden Importer Notes “Keller’s “RR” is one of those insider’s bottles. Normally, the wine is sourced from a rare red-soil parcel within the Kirchspiel. This cask rarely ferments totally dry and the Kellers have always enjoyed the natural balance of the wine. It’s what we’d call a “feinherb” – the wine is just a bit off-dry. Normally, you’ll see the bottle labeled as “Kirchspiel RR,” the “RR” denoting “Riesling” from the “Red” soil.”

 

 
 
Oregon
 

 

“Saul Mutchnick makes small batches of stellar white wines at a corrugated tin outpost in the Eola-Amity Hills. For me, they are among the best in Oregon.” -Michael Alberty, The Oregonian
 
Inspired by the crisp whites and reds of the Friuli region in Northeast Italy, Championship Bottle combs through the Willamette’s best cool climate sites to find the unique terroirs that infuse the wines texture, minerality, and elegant acidity that they are known for.
 
Saul Mutchnick, the owner and wine-maker, is both a music geek and a wine geek. Unsurprisingly, he brings these two interests together in the winery as much as possible… he likens his wine-making style to high-fidelity recording, finding the purity of the vineyard itself while turning down the excess noise and distractions as much as possible. His bottlings are named in reference to his favorite musicians and songs and even the winery itself is a reference to a classic music geek film.
 
These soulful, lifted wines are great for food pairing, but if you want to pair them to music as well, Saul provides a Spotify playlist, in roughly chronological order, about the music behind the wines.
 
Championship Bottle History Ablaze Pinot Rosato, Willamette Valley, USA 2022 750ml $33 special, 12 bottles available
Winery Note “A bottle that might be called daring if you felt like that term could be applied to winemaking. This is our homage to “serious” rosés like Valentini and Pepe Cerasuolo, Pataille Fleur de Pinot, L’Anglore, and Chateau Simone, which have either gotten significantly more expensive, or hard to find, or both-and so we had to make something to drink ourselves. A single-vineyard wine, it was treated to a nearly 18 month élevage in older barrels, which added a layer of savoriness and complexity to balance the cherry-red and strawberry fruit of the wine. It’s a contemplative bottle to drink over the next five years.”
 
Championship Bottle You + Me + The Moon White, Willamette Valley, USA 2022 750ml $21.90 special, 11 bottles available
Winery Note “An homage to the fresh, electric white wines of Friuli-where blending grapes to combine their individual strengths is a long-standing tradition. Made from Pinot Blanc, Chardonnay, and Pinot Gris, it’s a delightful wine that’s capable of aging for a half-decade, but we won’t be able to keep our hands off it for that long. Possibly the most purely delicious thing we’ve ever bottled.”
 
Championship Bottle Lusty Little Crushes Red, Willamette Valley, USA 2022 750ml $21.90 special, 24 bottles available
Winery Note “We love making light, fresh reds-the kind of wines that make you wonder where the rest of the bottle went and seemingly pair with everything. Lusty Little Crushes is the newest incarnation of that paradigm, a co-fermentation of Pinot Noir and Pinot Gris that reminds us of bottles from the Loire or Beaujolais in its red fruited, vibrant personality.”
 

 
It was a detour onto a foreclosed pig farm while on a family road trip that sealed Mike Etzel’s fate. Once he’d found the vineyard that would become Beaux Freres everything else began to fall into place. He traded his suit for a pair of boots and a shovel and dug right into Oregon’s burgeoning wine industry.
 
When Mike Etzel stepped back from his winemaking duties at Beaux Freres, he and his son (Mikey Etzel) founded their next family winery, Sequitur, which translates to “It follows,” in French. Located on an old Douglas Fir tree farm, this smaller production winery has allowed the Etzels to focus intently on sustainable agriculture and terroir expression.
 

 

Sequitur “Sundog” Pinot Noir, Ribbon Ridge, USA 2021 750ml $89 special, 12 bottles available
Erin Brooks-Wine Advocate 94-96 Points “I tasted the 2021 Sequitur Pinot Noir about three weeks before it was bottled. Medium ruby-purple in color, it has intense aromas of pomegranate, rhubarb and even boysenberry, plus accents of garrigue, conifer and orange peel. The medium-bodied palate is chalky and refreshing with addicting bursts of juicy acidity, generous, nuanced fruit and a very long, layered finish.”

 
Sequitur “Triple Seven” Pinot Noir, Ribbon Ridge, USA 2022 750ml $85 special, 19 bottles available
Jeb Dunnuck 97 Points “The 2022 Pinot Noir Triple Seven was raised in 30% new French oak and fermented in concrete. A jeweled ruby color with a light magenta hue, it’s pure and spicy with a savory depth to its notes of ripe raspberry, preserved cherries, wild roses, and mossy earth. Medium-bodied, it has a wonderfully refreshing feel, with ripe, well-defined tannins and a long, tapered, spiced finish. It’s crispy and refreshing all the way through. Drink 2026-2040.”
Eric Guido-Vinous 96 Points “A cascade of violet and lavender florals gives way to blackberries, hints of wet stone and flowery underbrush as the 2022 Pinot Noir Sequitur Vineyard blossoms in the glass. This is vividly fresh and cool-toned in feel, with depths of ripe wild berry fruit that add a tart concentration towards the close. Zesty acidity maintains tremendous freshness despite the 2022’s tannic heft, finishing dramatically long and full of tension. There’s an energy and vibrancy here that I find wildly attractive.

Average Price $97
 
Wait, there’s more! We have four more bottlings from Sequitur.
Shop for them on our Webstore
 

 
From the winemaker who brought you such films as The Godfather and The Godfather Part 2 comes Domaine Lumineux.
 
That’s right, this wine is the Oregon wine project from Francis Ford Coppola, that great American filmmaker, raconteur, and for the past few decades now, winery owner. After establishing his legacy in the film industry, he began his legacy in the wine industry, purchasing the famed Inglenook Estate in the Napa Valley and eventually expanding into the Willamette Valley
 
LIVE Certified sustainable
Domaine Lumineux Cuvee Pinot Noir, Dundee Hills, USA 2021 750ml $59 special, 24 bottles available
Winery Note “A select blend of our distinct pinot noir clones, the 2021 Cuvée is a multidimensional, harmonious, expression of the Domaine Lumineux Dundee Hills vineyard. This wine exhibits opulent aromas of spice, featuring hints of anise, nutmeg, and earthy forest floor. The savory palate is accompanied by concentrated red fruit notes, intermingled with dried fig. The 2021 Cuvée boasts a complex structure, with intriguing notes of black pepper lending an alluring mouthfeel and a prolonged finish.”
 
 
California
 

 
Despite its location on Mount Veeder, the coldest of Napa’s growing regions, Mt Brave Vineyard sits at a staggering 1,800 feet above sea level, over the fog zone of the Napa Valley. What this means for the consumer is the cold air crafts naturally small yields of thick-skinned, high acid grapes that produce  lithe, savory wines but the vineyards receive enough extra sunlight in the mornings to provide the concentrated flavors and ageability  that Napa is famous for.
 
Mt. Brave Cabernet Sauvignon, Mount Veeder, USA 2019 750ml $95 special, 12 bottles available
Decanter 97 Points “Showcasing the lovely freshness of high-elevation Mt Veeder grapes. Vivid boysenberry and mulberry fruits give way to mountain herbs, dusty minerals and rich toasty cedar. A compact wine revealing black-fruited flavours and savoury herbal nuances alongside sculpted tannins that are pixelated and mouthcoating. An impressively long finish of iron shavings, baked agave and dried chaparral.”
Antonio Galloni-Vinous 96 Points “The 2019 Cabernet Sauvignon is a classic Mount Veeder wine loaded with strong savory and mineral accents. Black fruit, graphite menthol and licorice lend complexity to this huge, explosive Cabernet Sauvignon. The tannins are pretty fierce at this stage, so readers should plan on being patient.”

 
…also available from Mt Brave:
 
Mt. Brave Malbec, Mount Veeder, USA 2016 750ml $79 special, 5 bottles available
Jeb Dunnuck 96 Points “The 2016 Malbec Mt. Veeder is another fabulous wine from winemaker Chris Carpenter. It offers a vibrant, focused, savory style in its blue fruits, graphite, and lead pencil aromatics, and has a concentrated, layered style on the palate. It’s a complex, age-worthy Malbec that will evolve for over a decade.”
 
Mt. Brave Malbec, Mount Veeder, USA 2018 750ml $79 special, 3 bottles available
Lisa Perrotti-Brown, Wine Advocate 95 Points “Made from 100% Malbec, the 2018 Malbec Mt. Veeder was aged for 22 months in oak, 34% new. Deep garnet-purple colored, the nose is flamboyantly scented of baked plums, blackberry compote and blueberry coulis with wafts of baking spices and dried Provence herbs. Full-bodied, the palate is packed with concentrated black and blue fruits, supported by firm, grainy tannins, going long, lively and with a spicy kick on the finish. 582 cases were made.”
Jeb Dunnuck 95 Points “All varietal, the 2018 Malbec is terrific and well worth seeking out. Sporting a dense purple color as well as impressive notes of spiced red and blue fruits, violets, toasted bread, and herbes de Provence-like nuances, it’s medium to full-bodied, has a rounded, mouth-filling texture, and enough velvety tannins to keep it showing well for over a decade.”
 

 
Stonestreet Estate Vineyards Cabernet Sauvignon, Alexander Valley, USA 2018 750ml $49 special, 12 bottles available
Wine Advocate 94 Points “The 2018 Cabernet Sauvignon Estate is blended with 1.5% Petit Verdot and matured for 20 months in 35% new oak. It’s bursting with gregarious blackcurrant, blueberry, mint chocolate and lilac plus touches of cigar ash, licorice and coffee beans. The medium-bodied palate is light on its feet despite its deep core of perfumed fruit, with a frame of grainy tannins and juicy acidity that calls you in for another sip. This is wonderfully easy to drink despite offering plenty of complexity. 8,028 cases produced.”
 
 
Italy
 
Brovia Vignavillej Dolcetto d’Alba, Piedmont, Italy 2021 750ml $21.90 special, 36+ bottles available
Antonio Galloni-Vinous 93 Points “The 2021 Dolcetto d’Alba Vignavillej is deep, potent and explosive. A super Dolcetto, the 2021 packs a serious punch. Blackberry, cloves, new leather and mocha all saturate the palate in this sumptuous, full-bodied Dolcetto. Superb.”

 
Vie di Romans Piere Sauvignon Friuli Isonzo, Friuli-Venezia Giulia, Italy 2021 750ml $49 special, 18 bottles available
Vinous 92 Points “The 2021 Sauvignon Blanc Piere is a spice bomb, holding my attention firm with a blast of ground ginger, cardamom, flint stone and curry before arriving at dried nectarines. It’s luxuriously silky yet lifted in style, with cooling minerality and acidity that motivates its floral-laced green citrus and melon tones. For all of its intensity, the 2021 finishes crisp and with a classically dry feel, as savory herbal tones resonate on. There is so much pleasure in this upfront, fruit focused, yet truly seductive Sauvignon.”
 
 
France
 
Doyard ‘Les Lumieres’ Extra Brut, Champagne, France 2008 750ml $365 special, 6 bottles available
William Kelley-Wine Advocate 97 Points “A spectacular wine, Doyard’s 2008 Extra-Brut Grand Cru Les Lumières was disgorged in November 2018 with minimal dosage. Unwinding in the glass with aromas of orange oil, crisp yellow orchard fruit, fresh pastry, honeycomb and almond paste, it’s full-bodied, searingly concentrated and intense, with a racy spine of acidity, immense depth at the core and a long, electric finish. This cuvée is a blend of first-press juice: two-thirds Chardonnay from Mesnil-sur-Oger and one-third Pinot Noir from prime holdings in Aÿ.”
 
Thomas Pico Domaine Pattes Loup Chablis, Burgundy, France 2020 750ml $36.50 special, 36+ bottles available
Neal Martin-Vinous 90 Points “The 2020 Chablis Vent d’Ange has a light bouquet with lemon verbena, and citrus peel touches, just slightly smudged at first but gaining clarity with aeration. The palate is well-balanced with a slightly reduced entry, fine depth, plenty of extract, and a saline finish. Moderate length. Just a hint of blackcurrant leaf on the finish. Fine.”

 
 
Germany
 

 
“Vollenweider is quite simply, among the greatest practitioners of Kabinett on planet earth, part of a very small and elite group including Julian Haart, Egon Müller, Keller, Weiser-Künstler and Willi Schaefer – the young Julian Ludes of Hermann Ludes may join the ranks soon enough, but right now these are my five. Try and buy as much of this as you can.” –Vom Boden, Importer
 
Vollenweider ‘Felsenfest’ Riesling Trocken, Mosel, Germany 2022 750ml $28 special, 34 bottles available
Mosel Fine Wines “The Felsenfest 2023, as it is simply written on the consumer label, is a tank-fermented and matured bone-dry wine (with 3 g/l of residual sugar) made from fruit harvested in the Kröver Steffensberg (2/3), the Trarbacher Schlossberg (1/6), and on young vines in the Wolfer Goldgrube (1/6). It offers a very fresh and pure nose of minty herbs, smoke, lily flower, lime tree, white minerals, spearmint, and thyme. The wine is straight and racy on the palate, with plenty of spices and white orchard fruits giving it a precise and animating feel. The finish is pure as fresh water and exhibits flintstone, lime, and anise. There is just a touch of tartness in need of integration. This fully bone-dry and racy Riesling is mouthwatering and complex.”
 

 
Stein St Aldegunder Himmelreich Riesling Kabinett Feinherb, Mosel, Germany 2022 750ml $36 special, 2 bottles available
Vom Boden Importer Note “Consider this Stein’s “1er Cru” vineyard; though it’s a 1er Cru vineyard with 70 to 80+ year-old ungrafted vines and a serious terroir of mostly blue slate. This is the “other” Himmelreich and similar to its more famous sibling in Graach, the wines from this site always show a slimmer profile, a pronounced mineral fine-ness and lift.”
 
Stein Palmberg Alte Reben Kabinett Trocken, Mosel, Germany 2023 750ml $39 special, 12 bottles available
Vom Boden Importer Note “The Palmberg is Stein’s “Grand Cru” and a vineyard to measure against any other vineyard in the Mosel, period. It is an awesome site, an ancient wall of vines filled with ungrafted plantings that are 90+ years old. The Palmberg is cut on one side by a stream, so the vineyard angles away from the Mosel … This wine is ruthless, cut, mineral, fresh and phenolic. It is quite simply one of my favorite wines of this vintage and it will age, easily, for 10-20+ years.”