Renegade Wines

 

A Rarity from the Mosel

It was a very exciting day when these Rieslings arrived at our door. The near-mythical status of Egon Muller's wines is well known but what we did not know until recently is that his cellar master makes wine too; and truly incredible wines. So without further ado Renegade presents the wines of Unterlind.
2023 Unterlind Trittenheimer Apotheke Riesling Kabinett (Germany, Mosel Saar Ruwer)

2023 Unterlind Leiwener Laurentiuslay Riesling Kabinett (Germany, Mosel Saar Ruwer)

Renegade is pleased to offer the wines of UNTERLIND made by Egon Müller’s cellarmaster Heiner Bollig and export manager Veronika Bollig-Lintner. The couple produce classic, refined, Rieslings from top sites farther downstream (from Egon) on the Mosel including grand cru vineyards Trittenheimer Apotheke and Leiwener Laurentiuslay (which is what we are offering today).
Stuart Piggott calls them “jaw-dropping".
Who is this gentelman? We had to look up Stuart Piggott. We came across pages and pages telling us he was a prominent British archaeologist known for his influential work in prehistoric archaeology. We were confused. Then we added 'wine' to our search. Turns out he is the authority on Riesling; the expert of experts. And he wrote this book: “Best White Wine on Earth: The Riesling Story”.
So when he calls these wines jaw-dropping, we took notice, ordered a few cases, and eventually tasted them. Yes, Mr. Piggott is correct.

Today we are offering Unterlind's two Grand Cru Rieslings:

2023 Unterlind Trittenheimer Apotheke Riesling Kabinett
(Germany, Mosel Saar Ruwer)
$65

and

2023 Unterlind Leiwener Laurentiuslay Riesling Kabinett
(Germany, Mosel Saar Ruwer)
$65


We have two different vineyard sites here so immediately the idea of tasting these side by side came to mind.
First a little background:

Trittenheimer Apotheke is a very steep Middle Mosel site on grey and blue Devonian slate where the Leiwener Laurentiuslay vineyard is planted on grey Devonian slate with redish soils. Both are insanely steep 40-80% grades with vine age hovering between 40-100+ years old.
When we poured the wines side by side, well, this is where the real fun began.
Trittenheimer Apotheke comes across more linear with smoky minerality, citrus and green fruits, with very precise acid and a lengthy finish tinged with salinity.
Leiwener Laurentiuslay is more giving; generous, rounder stone fruit coupled with mineraly acid, and a subtle spicier, more textural mid‑palate than the laser‑like Trittenheimer. Again this has that salty/savory finish but with more texture, and at least today, more staying power.
These are wines to taste over days or enjoyed after a decant with tempura, sashimi, fried rice bowls, yakitori...who know where we're heading: Teru Sushi just down from the Arlington Theatre.
While the importer was 'generous' with our wish list, we still received very little, so if interested please reach out.