Willi Schaefer Graacher Domprobst Riesling Kabinett 2020

Why is this Wine so Yummy?

“It is important to us that our Rieslings are light, playful and yet very strong in character. They should reflect their origins. The DOMPROBST is rather spicy and wild and the HIMMELREICH is more fruity and charming. Our wines should remain appetizing and never be sticky-sweet. We also prefer our dry Rieslings to be light in alcohol. The tremendous minerality gives the wines tension and flatters the fruit sweetness as a counterpoint. We don’t like to talk about analyses. One should taste the wines and form one’s own opinion. For us, perfect Riesling is something magical and refined, perhaps something like a dream. Light and yet tasty, long-lasting, playful and with incredible ripening potential.”
Christoph Schaefer

About Willi Schaefer

An ancestor of the Schaefer family was mentioned in a vineyard donation already in 1121. In addition, records show that the Schaefers have been cultivating vineyards since 1590. Johann Schaefer (1809–1878) married Anna Catharina von Meyerbach (1808–1878) in 1935. Her noble coat of arms is still on today’s label.

The estate is all of 4.2 hectares with no desire to grow. Since 2015, Christoph Schaefer and his wife Andrea run the family winery in Graach, the pair met while studying oenology at Geisenheim. Their winemaking philosophy is not much different than that of Christoph’s father or grandfather.

I learned a lot from my father. I think he also gave me the peace and serenity that allows me to concentrate completely on the wine when it matters most. I also had a wonderful grandfather, who achieved a lot in the post-war period and saved every last cent for today’s winery building. He and his wife were real “creators”.

Christoph Schaefer

In the Vineyard

Although Graach is just a stone’s throw away from Bernkastel, the clocks seem to tick differently here: Graach is contemplative, placid, and is located at the foot of the imposing steep slopes, which is only separated from the Mosel River by the riparian plains. With these vineyards, we have a treasure that has no equal. In a south-to-southwest exposition, the grapes grown on these steep slopes have sun throughout the day. The deep, weathered clayey slate soil, together with the rather cool climate of the Mosel, and the perfect sunlight, is a paradise for Riesling. Numerous water veins in the hillside guarantee an optimal water supply. No wonder that everything is still planted seamlessly here.

The Romans already knew the benefits of Graach’s sites and cultivated vines here. In the Prussian classification of the Mosel vineyards from 1816 to 1832, Graach’s vineyards had the highest ratings.

As one can see by the names of the sites even today, the Catholic Church was the primary owner of the Graacher vineyards till secularization in 1803.

Compared to the wines just slightly northwest in Zeltingen, the wines from Graach show cooler green and white tones rather Wehlen and Zeltingen’s more orange and red flavors. These wines perfectly reflect this unique terroir and show the distinct differences between these two sites right next to each other. Domprobst is more mineral, smokier, shadowy, and takes longer to emerge while Himmelreich is buoyant, more floral, lighter in texture, and is open from day one.

In the Winery

To tap the potential of each individual site, we rely on our sense of taste and our gut feeling. Before the harvest, we go through the vineyards and sample the grapes in every single plot. What counts is the taste of the grapes.

Therefore, we don’t stubbornly rely on measurable data, such as the amount of Oechsle or acidity. Only when we’re completely convinced that ‘it’s time’, do we begin our selective harvest. If you’re personally satisfied with the taste of the grapes, then the wine will taste good, too. We rarely look at the analysis.

The same goes for the must. During fermentation, we sample very often to see when the balance between sweetness and acidity, plus structure, are perfect. Here, also, we trust our feeling and not numerical values.
The fermentation takes place with natural yeasts from the vineyard mainly in old 1,000-liter Fuder casks. In the cellar, we try to intervene as little as possible and accompany rather what nature has provided us. We give the Rieslings the time in the cellar that they need. Therefore, a long lees contact and a late bottling are self-evident.

In the cellar we simply try to preserve the quality that nature has given us. If we have suitable grapes for a dry Riesling, then we also ferment dry. But if I am convinced that the must is better suited for a semi-sweet wine, the fermentation is interrupted as soon as the balance is perfect. We ferment with wild yeasts in classic Fuder barrels. Depending on the vintage, it can occur that there is no dry wine or only Spätlese and Auslese wines. That is nature.

Christoph Schaefer

The 2020 Vintage at Willi Schaefer

We are sure that 2020 will remain in our memory for a long time – and not only because of the Covid-19 pandemic.

In the vineyards, we had to deal with conditions we have never had before. But this very exceptional year has produced – probably to console us – joyful wines with animating structure and elegant fruity appeal.

Winter was dry and mild. We were therefore pleased by the generous rainfall in February. The following very warm and dry months brought an unusual early blossom, so we were already aware of an early harvest by the end of May. Even though it was very dry, we sometimes had a bit of rain – at least in Graach. Unfortunately, one rainfall was also accompanied by hail. Our first impression was that the damage was negligible. But later in the year, it was obvious that many berries were affected. Along with sunburned berries, this led to time-consuming selections, but essential for the final quality.

Before picking, we went even more often to the vineyards to taste the grapes than we usually do. “Is it really possible that we have to start picking that early?” This was our daily question.

With the start of our harvest season on September 14, 2020, summer celebrated its comeback. Because of the heat we sometimes had to interrupt picking already in the early afternoon. At times, it was unbearably hot. Temperatures rose to 37 degrees Celsius (98.6 degrees Fahrenheit), which interrupted the maturation process until the end of September, because the vines switched to “self-preservation” to protect themselves. On the positive side, this “natural brake” enlarged our time window to do pre-selections quietly in all of our vineyards. This enabled us to pick Kabinett wines with lively acidity as well as fine Spätlese wines during this period. Towards the end of September, it cooled down enormously, and it also rained a bit from time to time. Around October 8, we received more rain and deferred picking more grapes until October 14 to let them dry again and, of course, to get more concentration and taste in the berries. Finally, we got the chance to select more very noble Spätlese grapes. On October 17, we luckily finished the picking season with marvelous Auslese grapes in the Domprobst vineyard.

We are very grateful that we all stayed healthy during the harvest. Everything else would have been a nightmare…

The grapes were perfectly healthy, too. Hence the noble sweet “peak” in 2020 is our Domprobst Auslese #11. Through all quality levels the wines show a very animating acidity, gripping minerality, good extracts, and expressive flavors, which showcase the vineyards in the usual manner. The young wines are all very elegant, full of character, and intense. We are very lucky!

Weingut Willi Schaefer, February 2021

Where in the World is Willi Schaefer?

Willi Schaefer is in the middle-Mosel based in the township of Graach. Their most important vineyards are Graacher Domprost, Graacher Himmelreich, and Wehlener Sonnenuhr.

The German VDP has an excellent interactive map covering the wine growing regions of Germany. Clink on the Map to go to the live version.