Scott Kieser

10

@Lyle Fass 6 Weeks? I maybe made it 6 minutes. Mosel Fine Wines said this was picked at 110 Oeschle with 40-50% botrytized grapes. I was prepared for a lush dessert ,and had a blue cheese plate ready to pair with it. Wasn’t necessary. The wine is barely off-dry. Generous, though not at all opulent. The botrytis is barely noticeable on the palate, just adding a slight raisin character to complement its honeyed pineapple and saffron notes. It has an improbable lightness and high, refreshing acidity, which makes the mouth water but doesn’t stand out. While I suspect it will gain weight with bottle age, this is a lean, chiseled athlete with not an ounce of excess fat. The finish lasts forever and brings lovely spice and light mineral character. The balance in this wine is impeccable; reaching a Jungian ideal. I have never had an Auslese like this. Bravo!
— 16 days ago

Scott Kieser

10

I have only three bottles; I opened this with great trepidation, thinking the odds were high it would be shut down. Nope. This is open for business and incredibly intense.

I had this bottling once before. The 1992 vintage in 2010. Neither I nor the retailer had ever heard of the estate. It was ultimately the best wine I had ever tasted, and it remains my benchmark for fine wine today. I have thought about that bottle every day since. While this bottle didn’t achieve the same heights, I travelled back in time with the first sip. It has the same full throttle intensity with paradoxical elegance. It posses the same weightless density, the same salty mineral depth, the same electricity on the finish, the same silkiness, the same well-mannered explosiveness, and the same ability to furlough me from my perpetual stoicism. This is, of course, a young wine and has a lot of baby fat - delicious, apricot flavored adiposity - and needs time for the sugar to integrate. (The 1992 tasted completely dry. No idea if this dries out to the same extent). While this will certainly evolve and improve for some time, I not only have no regrets about trying this early, I adore this youthfully exuberant phase. I’ll probably open another soon to enjoy with duck. @Lyle Fass — 6 months ago

Scott Kieser

9.8

Wow! I have been buying up Steinmetz ‘23s blind, like they are going out of style, because a Steinmetz wine requires no prior tasting in my experience. From the moment I pulled the cork, I realized this had a little extra something special. You could smell peaches and flowers across the room before the first glass was poured. It opens fruity, but any thoughts of opulence were ephemeral, washed away by thunderous, cutting acidity and a mineral bath. It’s feather light, though with remarkable concentration and intensity. Complex, penetrating, classy, and so refreshing with an exceptionally long finish. If you think a humble Kabinett can’t reach the heights of an Auslese or a Grosses Gewachs, you need to try this. This can probably outlive me, but I have every intention of drinking all of my remaining 17 bottles in its youthful exuberance. And I will have zero regrets. @Lyle Fass Is this representative of Steinmetz ‘23s? — 4 months ago

Scott Kieser

10

Scott had this 6 months ago

Scott Kieser

9.5

This is such a seductive wine. It opens lush and creamy, with exuberant peach, asian pear, mango, and pineapple notes which dance around the palate. The opulence is abruptly and violently washed away by a Tsunami of acidity and mouth puckering citrus tones which power a long, resonant finish with stony mineral flavor. It is so silky, so powerful, and so light. An arresting combo. The nose was similarly exciting with a vivid floral top note. The QPR at $24.95 is off the charts, and I am going back for many more — 6 months ago

Scott Kieser

8.0

Not really feeling this. Love the beautiful, pure fruit and the Prum lightness, but it’s almost cloying with low acid and a clipped finish. — 6 months ago

Scott Kieser

9.7

First time with this bottling and I have deep regrets about buying only four bottles. The acidity is extreme. It swallows the residual sugar, leaving just a hint of sweetness, though the sugar makes the fruit burst on the palate and gives the wine density. Shockingly concentrated and intense with salty, mineral depth and a very long finish. This is closer to a generous Grosses Gewachs than my conception of a Kabinett. Thrilling wine! @Lyle Fass is this typical or an anomaly of the vintage? More importantly, do you have anything like this to sell me? — 6 months ago