Julian Haart - "JJ" Kabinett Riesling 2023 750ml (8.5% abv)

This is sourced from vines in the Grand Cru Goldtröpfchen vineyard as well as Falkenberg which is located just above on the same slope. J.J. is both a nod to Julian’s son “Johann Josef” (also the name of his Grandfather and Great-Grandfather!) as well as a homage to the house style of J.J. Prüm, of which this ultra-light style Kabinett is reminiscent of. With 46g of RS this has an elegant interplay of sweetness and acidity, the push and pull of opulence and tension.

Julian Haart apprenticed with Egon Müller and Klaus Peter Keller. That’s like learning to draw under da Vinci and Picasso. It’s pretty serious.

Julian’s first vintage under his own label was in 2010 and people immediately took notice. Although none of the wine was released in the US, David Schildknecht, writing for Parker’s Wine Advocate at the time, penned the following: “Not many wine careers can have started off on a more superlative level than Haart’s

The estate has grown to a little more than four hectares and this is, roughly, where Julian wants it to stay. Part of the joy of winemaking, for Julian, is doing everything, just he and his wife Nadine, and maybe some friends. This is vineyard work, and winemaking, at the most human scale. Nearly everything must be done by hand – most of the vineyards are steep as hell and most of them are terraced. Even walking through them is a bit hazardous.

region: Mosel, Germany

varietal: Riesling

style: sweet white

farming/cellar: practicing organic, hand harvest, native yeast ferments, made in old mosel 1000L fuder

pairing: dessert, funky cheese