Scott Kieser

9.5

Very elegant, textured and mildly creamy with extroverted berry, mandarin, and spice notes coating the palate with typical Gratien electricity on the persistent finish. Paired beautifully with a NY Strip. Nice way to celebrate my 50th Birthday. — 14 days ago

Scott Kieser

9.9

I didn’t take any notes on this one, but it stood out for its full throttle intensity, married to supreme elegance, with a textured mouthfeel. Long, resonant finish. First try with this bottling, and I would have purchased two additional cases had I known how brilliant it is. Will back up the truck next year. Hard to believe how open this is at this age, and I don’t know how I will be able to hold on to these for the long haul. — 3 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 — a year ago

Scott Kieser

9.5

I tried this wine for the first time in ‘22 and wasn’t wowed. This was a very pleasant surprise. It’s a big, rich, silky, and intense wine that fills every crevice of the mouth. Luscious blackberry flavor on entry gives was to a nuanced savory character full of meaty, salty, smokey, and gravelly notes. The richness is cut by a surprising spine of acidity, which the ‘22 was lacking, and the result is a wine with elegance to match the broad concentration. The finish is long and peppery with a black olive note which lingers.

Every element of this wine is in perfect harmony, it’s not burdened by weight, heavy oak or overripeness. This is a Goldilocks example of concentrated Rocks District Syrah. Sadly my only bottle. I’d score this higher, but the nose is quiet. — 16 days ago

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!
— 8 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. — a year ago

Scott Kieser

9.1

Enjoyable but a little quiet. It’s got quiet power and complexity, but neither aromatic nor textured. Might be a little shut down. — a month ago

Scott Kieser

9.7

Really outstanding wine. Layered palate with mushroom, licorice, and peppery spice notes adding additional intrigue to the vivid peach and citrus fruits. Glossy texture and a very long finish. White Cap. — 2 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? — a year 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 — a year ago