2021 Weingut Dr. Hermann Riesling Kabinett Alte Reben Urziger Wurzgarten Mosel 750 ml

There might be fewer than five instantly recognizable icon vineyards like Ürziger Würzgarten—the insanely steep, rust-red vineyard that looms over a bend in the Mosel river—in the world. 

From a site as unmistakable as Hermitage Hill or Le Chambertin, Dr. Hermann’s 2021 Alte Reben—aka Old Vine—Kabinett is “stunning” in the words of our Master Sommelier Sur Lucero. Wine Advocate gave it a phenomenal 95-point score, lauding it as “complex and substantial” with “remarkable finesse.” 

In the early 20th century, wines from this stretch of the Mittelmosel sold for two to three times the prices of the First Growths of Bordeaux—yet today this is one of the great bargains in the wine world. We’ve got the only bottles of this in the US, which is not to be confused with the estate’s “regular” bottling from this iconic site.

What separates Ürziger Würzgarten from the standard slate-dominated vineyards of the Mosel goes far beyond aesthetics, and became obvious as we walked the vines (stepping carefully so we didn’t slide off the hillside). The soil is crumbly and iron-rich—a ruddy red underfoot—and the wines it produces show beautiful exotic fruit and rounded texture in their youth, and sweet baking spices when they are mature. Though, ironically, the site's name “spice garden” comes from the middle ages and refers to a literal herb garden.

Dr. Hermann is a centuries-old producer known for working with the top vineyard sites in Mosel. It’s led by winemaker Christian Hermann, whose Riesling qualifications are not just inherited: Before taking charge of his family’s operation, he spent time working with the most renowned names in the region: Dr. Loosen, J.J. Prum, and even cult producer Willi Schaefer.