The Steins like their Riesling wines with finesse. In Germany, the Stein brothers, Ulrich and Peter, have a following among the artsy crowd in Cologne. Ulli’s wife is a cabaret artist.
They don’t submit samples to Gault Millau and had a falling out with a well-known domestic wine critic. So, you won’t see their name hyped in the press. Ulli gives his honest opinion and has a laid-back style while experimenting over the years with other methods, both in the vineyard and cellar.

For example, he was one of the first to replant Pinot Noir before the ban was lifted in the late 1980s. Moreover, he makes a unique Riesling Auslese from tiny, seedless berries unaffected by noble rot that have an intense flavor. He also hand-crafted a 2001 Auslese fermented and aged on its lees for over two years in a new Allier cask with minimal handling. In addition, he has fought for the rights of small growers being paid a pittance for their grapes in steep-slate sites such as Bremmer Calmont and has been battling the authorities in Germany to bring back vin de paille taking this all the way up to the highest courts of the EU.
I would define his style as racy and linear Riesling wines, whether dry, off-dry, or sweet. From his easy-drinking liter trocken to his top Auslese wines, one finds a common thread throughout his collection, namely finesse and acidity. He wants to avoid plump wines and off-smells and -flavors. When the selected and hand-picked grapes arrive in the winery, he usually destems and does a short pre-fermentation maceration followed by a gentle pressing and a cool fermentation.
He seeks lower alcohol and higher acidity by harvesting at optimal ripeness versus over-ripeness. Except for early drinking summer wines aged in stainless-steel tanks, almost all his Riesling age at their own pace on their fine lees in old oak Fuders with no enzymes or additives. The top single-vineyard wines ferment for the most part spontaneously, though he might add outside yeasts to a barrel if need be. Moreover, his vineyard care is close to organic. (Neither insecticides nor herbicides are used.) Stein’s yields are low. He leaves only one cane versus the heart-shaped two canes per vine. These are trained in the old manner on wooden stakes and tied down with willow by skilled women.

One of most idyllic sites along the Mosel Valley is the blue-slate, steep-terraced St. Aldegunder Palmberg-Terrassen, which is located in a small side valley. His 86-year-old father still drinks his daily bottle of Stein-Wein and continues to nurture the ungrafted 50- to 80-year-old vines on this site.
Stein’s wines are reminiscent of von Schubert’s (a customer of his), namely more dry and off-dry production never muscular or opulent in style. In the States, importers have shied away from bringing the dry Mosel Riesling to their clientele. Yet, these are some of my favorite wines for crisp day-to-day drinking.
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Also, keep an eye on the Hofgut Falkenstein, an unpretentious Saar domaine from Erich Weber, whom David Schildknecht introduced to me a couple years ago. Weber particularly likes to make steely down-home, dry-fermented Riesling aged in old Fuders.
For our portfolio we have another Saar domaine in mind…