Willi Schaefer

Australia vs Germany: Wine Rambler Blind Tasting Madness part 8

torsten — Sat, 24 Sep 2011 17:39:31 +0000

Australia vs Germany: Wine Rambler Blind Tasting Madness part 8

Australia vs Germany - after several blind tasting country battles here at the Wine Rambler this one is a little more difficult to sell. For last year's epic England vs Germany battle we could fall back on 1966, and other blind tastings have their respective stereotypes. But A v G? Football matches, yes, but epic? Dramatic battles - well, El Alamein, but the Australian part there is not really part of popular culture. So what remains is to stay in the wine world and announce an epic match between two of the world's prime producers of Riesling.

Still, there is a little twist. Australia is, after all, mostly know for dry Riesling - but in today's match it sends an off-dry wine against a similarly specked Mosel Riesling. Dong, dong, let the match being.

torsten Saturday, 24/09/2011

Willi Schaefer, Graacher Riesling feinherb, 2009

torsten — Sat, 24 Sep 2011 17:39:07 +0000

Willi Schaefer is one of the stars of the Mosel, so much so it seems that he and his son Christoph even in 2011 think they don't need a website so that people can find out about them. Well, they are on our radar anyway, but I am sure others would appreciate the chance to learn more about this small, family-owned estate in Graach. The wine you see in front of you is one of the basic offerings, a "feinherb" or "off-dry" Riesling that comes with a screw cap.

When I recently had two wine loving friends visiting, I pitted the Schaeffer against an off-dry Australian Riesling in another epic Wine Rambler blind tasting battle.

Willi Schaefer, Graacher Domprobst, Riesling Kabinett, 2009

torsten — Wed, 29 Dec 2010 11:37:10 +0000

Willi Schaefer, Graacher Domprobst, Riesling Kabinett, 2009

Seeing how good their reputation is, it was high time for us to review a wine made at the Willi Schaefer winery. The Schaefer estate is run by Willi and Christoph Schaefer, father and son, who on a few hectares of steep Mosel land exclusively grow Riesling. They feature a label design that just screams traditional Germanic Mosel style, bordering on cute cliché. I like it, of course. The family also seem to be traditional in other ways as they still don't have a website. Or they hide it. There is nothing that needs hiding about this wine though. Not only highly enjoyable on its own it also paired very well with Tim Burton's Sleepy Hollow on a cold autumn night.

It was a cold and windy night. Suffering from a somewhat congested nose, I still desired a glass of wine to keep me company while I watched Christopher Walken decapitate fat blokes in the woods. Just a little light-hearted fun, what could be better than a Mosel Kabinett?

torsten Wednesday, 29/12/2010

Freude schöner Götterfunken - 2009 German wine has arrived

torsten — Mon, 23 Aug 2010 12:27:31 +0000

Freude schöner Götterfunken - 2009 German wine has arrived

This will be a source of great joy, especially as I hear so many good things about the 2009 vintage...

torsten Monday, 23/08/2010