Merkelbach Mosel Riesling Urziger Wurzgarten Kabinett 2023

More about Merkelbach

Every time you open a good bottle of wine it's an opportunity to travel, usually to that special place where the grapes were grown and the wine was made.

But sometimes the wine will take you on a trip through time. There are a few estates that haven't changed for decades. But not many—López de Heredia comes to mind, and Lafarge in Volnay. When you taste their wines, you experience something ancient and beautiful. Time travel.

In the case of the Merkelbachs, that time is the 1950s. For all those decades the same two brothers have made wines from the same terroirs, over and over again, using the same ancient methods on their beautiful, old, ungrafted vines. They started young and are both around 80 years old today.

2018 was the end of an era for Merkelbach, one of the Mosel's most important and historic estates. For nearly 70 years, the brothers Merkelbach have steadfastly tended their vines and made their wines, their way. But now, the baton has been passed to a new, equally historic family.

The Merkelbachs have what seems to be a magic touch, making brilliant wines every year. In reality, it’s the accumulation of literally decades of vintage knowledge. Alfred Merkelbach took over his family’s precipitously steep vineyards at 14, and his brother Rolf soon followed. Their minuscule 1.9-hectare estate is split between the Ürziger Würzgarten, Erdener Treppchen and Kinheimer Rosenberg vineyards.

The German technology boom of the mid- to late-20th century meant wineries were more like factories or science labs than homes and workshops. These wines may have been technically perfect, but often lacked character and soul.

They worked exclusively with old-fashioned fuder in their circa-1950s cellar (really much older than that). They tweaked things every vintage, pulling from their experience — the feel of the grape, the smell of the must, the sounds of the fermentations gurgling away. This kind of attention to detail was worth far more than agonizing over the latest lab results.

Neither man had children, yet their heritage will not disappear. The Selbach family — longtime friends of the brothers — has agreed to take over the winemaking, with Merkelbach methods. The brothers are still in the vines