2013 Riesling Graacher Domprobst Auslese A.P. #15

With his hat and smile, Willi Schaefer is hard to miss in a crowd, and he has an avid fan club. That said, he never seeks out the limelight, preferring instead to spend his time in the sunshine of his vineyards. With their delicacy, harmony and balance, his Rieslings are always so charming that they speak for themselves, and age gracefully. Although his son Christoph has been back at the estate since 2002, little has changed. Not surprisingly, these are wines that I am pleased to have in my cellar and enjoy drinking, especially those from cooler vintages like 2013 that play to his strength. That it was a late crush last year was clear when we sat down to taste the wines. Four of the ten Rieslings that he produced were Ausleses. More important for consumers, though, is the fact that even the off-dry Graacher Riesling, the "lowliest" wine in the cellar, is a pleasure to drink.