Von Schubert Maximin Grünhaus 2018 Aus Trilogy
3-Pack includes one bottle of each
2018 Riesling Herrenberg Auslese #59
2018 Riesling Abtsberg Auslese #87
2018 Riesling Abtsberg Auslese #89

One of my first truly sublime Auslese experiences - which I still vividly recall today - was a bottle of 1988 Von Schubert Abtsberg Auslese Fuder Nr. 67.

Trying to describe this experience would lessen the wine and the experience; it was just an amazing wine shaped into something extraordinary by time. I will never forget it.

There is something just magical about wine and time.

Of all of humanity's "progress," our fancy technology and our world of instant gratification, there is still no way to side-step the authority of time, in regards to both wine and, well, our lives. Whatever it is that happens to a bottle of wine with time, well, we just have to wait for it to happen.

I find something fundamentally reassuring in this.

Here we offer three bottles from one of Germany's most illustrious producers. While this is cool, what is *awesome* about this offer is the benefit of time. First, the time these wines have already spent at the estate, resting in the dark, cool cellar only meters from their birthplace. The bottles have not been touched in many years. They will only be pulled from the cellar specifically for this offer. We thank Dr. Carl and his son Maximin von Schubert for the access into this hallowed cellar.

The second benefit of time looks the other way - forward. As the Mosel Fine Wines quote above so forcefully declares, these are wines with an immense potential. There is only one thing that will unlock all this potential. Yup, time.

It's worth noting that in exceptional vintages (like 1988 or 2018) the estate may keep certain very special casks separate - these bottles will keep their casks numbers. Today's offerings are all special cask bottlings - #89, #87 and #59 - these are the best of the best. I'm not honestly sure if these wines have even been offered in the U.S.

The vintage 2018 is an incredible vintage; the wines have a power that is nearly incomparable. Yet, even more important, the vintage marks an important turning point in German viticulture. This is one of the first vintages where the top growers put the brakes on in the vineyard to slow down and finesse the ripeness, sculpting and refining the natural power of the vintage and not simply going for outrageous amplitude. The top wines have a sneaky and pushing acidity; they have a prodigious balance.

With time, and with more time, the top wines of this vintage will take their place in the pantheon. As always happens, when they are in this golden zone, they will be largely unavailable for purchase.

2018 Von Schubert Maximin Grünhaus Riesling Auslese Trilogy 
All notes below from Mosel Fine Wines

"The 2018 Abtsberg Riesling Auslese Nr. 89 was fermented down to noble-sweet levels of residual sugar. This offers a quite aromatic and citrus-infused nose of pear, white flowers, grapefruit zest, mint, passion fruit and melon. The wine is ripe, juicy and fruity on the nicely zesty and light-footed palate. This beautifully playful and comparatively airy expression of Auslese only needs to integrate its noticeable sweetness in order to shine. There is great upside as the wine becomes more nuanced at maturity."

"The 2018er Maximin Grünhäuser Abtsberg Riesling Auslese Nr. 87 was fermented down to noble-sweet levels of residual sugar. It offers a gorgeous and attractive nose of mango, pineapple, apricot, cherry, blackberry, plum and almond cream. The wine is still on the sweet side at the moment, yet the underlying complex and multi-layered structure comes over as juicy on the palate. Flavors of tangerine, candied grapefruit, almond cream and spices as well as raisin and fig round off the pleasure to drink this classy sweet Riesling in the very long, almost forceful and deep finish. There is quite some upside here, especially when the wine becomes more nuanced as the current sweetness recedes."

"The 2018er Maximin Grünhäuser Herrenberg Riesling Auslese was fermented down to noble-sweet levels of residual sugar. It offers a delicately ripe nose of pear, melon, sweet yellow peach, candied orange, a hint of litchi and almond cream. The wine is intensely honeyed and juicy on the palate, and has its flavors dominated by sweetness at this early stage in the long and smooth finish. This needs at least a decade to fully integrate. It could then easily exceed our expectations as it becomes more nuanced with age."

This offer is now closed. If you need help finding the wines please email orders@sourcematerialwine.com.