TennstedtRiesling “Mauerfuchs” 2019 (750ml)

This cask was bottled only in the fall of 2022; meaning the wine was in barrel, unsulfured, for nearly three years. Yes, this is not a standard Mosel Riesling. Please see the Jakob Tennstedt producer profile on our page for more on Jakob and his wonderful and curious philosophies.

The 2019 Mauerfuchs is cool-toned, even in ways quite mineral, while it is also enveloping and warming, both oxidative and crystalline. The wine goes through full malolactic and is bottled unfined and unfiltered with no sulfur, so it is an amber-hued wine. While there are flavors of brown butter, cream, yeasts, dried aromatic herbs, camphor, beeswax – a honeyed richness that reminds me a bit of more lavish Chenin Blancs – the Mauerfuchs has a very distinctive herbal quality, delicate flavors of anise and tarragon. Yet, and this is (for me) the fascination: There is a vivid clarity to the wine, a dried, concentrated stone-fruit lift that makes the wine feel not light, but pulsating, rhythmic. You’ll note I am struggling with the tasting note, as I always do with Jakob’s wines.  You’ll just have to taste them for yourself. They are amazing.

The Mauerfuchs is sourced from a small parcel in the Schlossberg vineyard. While this vineyard is in the same side valley in which all of Jakob’s vineyards are, the Schlossberg is closer to the river. Our Google Earth tour on the producer profile will show you everything you need to know. Note that Jakob gave up this parcel after the 2020 vintage – it was simply too much work.