Weingut Willi Schaefer

Robert Parker illustré des plus beaux vignobles de France et du monde :
« La famille Schaefer n’a acquis le domaine qu’en 1950. Les propriétaires actuels sont Willi Schaefer, plein de charme et d’assurance, et depuis 2001, son fils Christoph. La faiblesse de la production (environ 26 000 bouteilles pour un vignoble de 2,67 hectares) est probablement l’unique raison du manque de notoriété du domaine. J’ai toujours considéré les rieslings Schaefer comme des vins de sybarites – splendides, agréables, mais d’une complexité et d’une saveur hors du commun, et tout simplement fascinants. Aujourd’hui, Willi Schaefer et son fils, entré à son tour dans la profession, semblent faire partie de ces amateurs de luxe et de raffinement, qui parcourent au volant d’une Porsche flambant neuve les petites routes de Moselle. Ses plus grandes réussites restent ses cuvées Graacher Domprobst et Graacher Himmelreich. Bien que le Wehlener Sonnenuhr soit son cru le plus célèbre, il n’a jamais atteint la majesté de ses Graacher. N’en déplaise aux sceptiques qui, impressionnés par les grandes performances des jeunes crus, les accusent de mal vieillir, j’ai goûté de vieux millésimes encore capables d’en démontrer à leurs cadets. »

View from the cellar, by John Gilman :
« Weingut Willi Schaefer is one of the absolute crown jewels of estates to be found in the middle Mosel. It is a small estate by the standards of this section of the Mosel, with just a tad over four hectares of vineyard land, but its name is now absolutely synonymous with the town of Graach and its two great vineyards, the Himmelreich and the Domprobst. These days, it is very evident when one is attending the annual VDP auctions in Trier that Weingut Willi Schaefer has now reached the very pinnacle of great estate on the Mosel, with many of the most sophisticated connoisseurs of German wines now pursuing the wines of the Schaefer family with the same passion as they do the wines of Egon Müller, Dr Manfred Prüm and Hanno Zilliken. This new superstar status in themiddle Mosel does not necessarily sit comfortably on the shoulders of either Willi or Christophe Schaefer, the father and son team that have collectively been responsible for each vintage that has emerged from this small jewel of a winery since Willi took over full time from his father in 1973. One can easily appreciate the family’s ambivalent feeling about the new star status of their wines, as at the annual auctions in Trier these days, it is commonplace to see the wine commissioners approach either of the Schaefers at the podium to see if more wine can be made available from a certain auction lot, so that the price can be kept at its current level and meet the demand of all the bidders in the room rather than ratchet up the lot of wine to a higher price level. Invariably either Willi or Christophe Schaefer will shake their head in the affirmative (no doubt cutting severely into the family cache of the wine in question) to make more wine available, rather than watch the price continue to mount. This approach is in notable contrast to some of the other winemakers at the auction in Trier. »

Weingut Willi Schaefer - Allemagne