source | material 012 - Max Kilburg 2020 Kabinett Two-Pack

A very exciting offer out today. Max Kilburg worked with Julian Haart and is farming some of the same vineyards. I personally love these vineyards and the wines Julian made but they are now impossible to get and trade at crazy prices on the secondary market.

https://mailchi.mp/b9650c038900/jonas-dostert-is-one-of-the-finest-and-most-exciting-talents-weve-discovered-in-our-now-12-year-tenure-at-mosel-fine-wines-5161804?e=a88257beff

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offer 012
Max Kilburg
2020 Kabinett Two-Pack
the U.S. premiere of a rising star
the Kilburg Kabinett 2020 Collection 2-Pack: $55.00
1 bottle 2020 Ohligsberg Kabinett
1 bottle 2020 Goldtröpfchen Kabinett
order

{ “Mosel lovers of refined and playful wines have a new star to put on their radar screen!” }
Two market predictions for you.

First, Mosel wines are due for a serious upward pricing correction, though this is probably pretty obvious to most people paying any attention. Second, and this might be a bit more daring but what the hell: The “Kabinett” will rather quickly become the rarest, most treasured and most expensive of the Prädikats.*

In short: The days of sub-$30 Mosel Kabinetts, at least from serious growers working in the top vineyards, are soon coming to a close. Don’t miss this.

If the name Max Kilburg has been on a lot of people’s minds over the last few years, I’m not sure anyone expected he would so quickly be put at the most elite levels of Mosel winemaking. The quote, above, is only one gushing line from the Mosel Fine Wines reviews; you can read more below.

Honestly, it all felt both somewhat foreign and somehow familiar to read the name Max Kilburg.

We had heard his name a number of times when he had worked with Julian Haart a few years ago. Soon after this time with Julian it was made official, Max would take over his family’s historic estate, Geierslay, as the 20th-generation winemaker. Most recently, we had read about Max acquiring an older-vine parcel in the Grand Cru Ohligsberg, the most famous site rising up and around his hometown village of Wintrich. And we had heard about his own small line of wines, sourced from only 1.2 hectares, total, in both the Ohligsberg and the Goldtröpfchen vineyards - the focus of today’s offer.

For us, trapped in our homes, in quarantine like everyone else, the reviews made our mouths water. They sounded like exactly the style of wines we love: “The dry wines are gorgeous, light, intense and bone-dry. The Kabinetts are firm, precise, racy and hugely profound,” wrote Mosel Fine Wines.

I mean, we love most anything “hugely profound.”

And so, we emailed Max and begged for samples. He got them together quickly enough, though international shipping was (and remains) a mess. By the time we tasted through everything, Max was long sold out of 2019.

Determined not to let this happen again, we have organized a fresh-off-the-bottling-line offer of Max’s 2020 Grand Cru Kabinetts. (Note: We will offer the dry wines later, once they are bottled.)

But for now, this is not only the official U.S. premiere of Max Kilburg’s wines, it is one of your first chances to taste the more serious wines of the vintage 2020, which by most accounts seems very, very good - especially if you like lighter, more delicate wines.

Max wrote to us of his own 2020ers: “I would say the 2020 Kabinetts are a bit lighter compared to the 2019ers. They have great acidity; 2020 is really a classical vintage, more on the quiet side, not as opulent or as loud as the last two vintages. It is more of a throwback to 2017, 2004 or even the late 1990s. They are light fragrant and elegant wines. It was a perfect year for producing Kabinetts.”

That seems like a good place to stop.

Like we said, Max is farming only 1.2 hectares, and even though we said we’d take everything we could get, there is not much to go around. Please give us your maximum order and we will do our best. The wines should arrive late June or July. Obviously we can arrange for temperature-controlled storage until safe shipping temperatures in the fall.

More on the wines below. To order, reply to this email or simply click here.

2020 Max Kilburg Kabinett Collection 2-Pack: $55.00
1 bottle 2020 Goldtröpfchen Kabinett
1 bottle 2020 Ohligsberg Kabinett
We have not tasted the 2020ers as they were only recently bottled. We were sent samples of vintages 2017, 2018 and 2019. Across the board the wines showed impressive depth and clarity. They are crystalline and clear, with ripe and juicy fruit, great balance and cut. They can have a glycerin-rich flair to them, a textural glaze that is launched across the palate by impressive energy and acidity. We’ve included the Mosel Fine Wines reviews for the two 2019er Kabinetts, though the 2020ers will likely have a bit more finesse and delicacy.

2019 Kilburg Ohligsberg Kabinett: “This was made from fruit harvested early at 80 Oechsle on up to 40-year-old vines, and was fermented down to fully fruity-styled levels of residual sugar (58 g/l). It offers a rather reduced nose of spices and herbs, with some citrusy and cassis elements wrapped into riper orange zest. The wine is precise, sharp, and hugely elegant on the palate and leaves a stunning feel of fruits, minerals, and herbal elements in the focused finish. The after-taste is mouthwatering, deep, persistent, and gorgeously light-footed. This is a stunning Kabinett in the making.”

2019 Kilburg Goldtröpfchen Kabinett: “This was made from fruit harvested early at 83 Oechsle from up to 40-year-old-vines in a parcel in the Niederemmel part of the vineyard and was fermented down to fruity-styled levels of residual sugar (54g/l). It offers a still rather reduced nose made of residual scents from its spontaneous fermentation, pear, citrusy fruits, greengage, elderflower, cassis, herbs and spices. The wine is gorgeously playful and superbly precise on the subtly creamy yet nicely racy palate and leaves a finely sizzled feel of whipped cream, cassis, citrus, and spices. The wine is cut along the lines of a great ‘drinking Auslese from the 1990s’ and is a huge success!”

  • In reference to this line, above: “The ‘Kabinett’ will rather quickly become the rarest, most treasured and most expensive of the Prädikats.” First, this is already happening; growers are starting to price their top Kabinetts in many cases higher than the Spätlesen. In the VDP auction this past September, honestly we were shocked to see Egon Müller’s auction Kabinett sell for more than the auction Spätlese - we didn’t expect this to happen this quickly. All this said, the rarest of the rare dessert wines - the BAs and TBAs will continue to be the most expensive, but Kabinett we predict will soon be more expensive than most Spätlesen and Auslesen.

Great work bringing the next generation to the US.

Max is a fine talent and wonderful guy.

As always thanks Russell. Given your knowledge of Germany your support is much appreciated.

Robert,
I am really enjoying reading these offers and look forward to start pulling the trigger soon. Can you give a rough sense of the process of shipping the wine to consumer? If I ordered this two pack, for instance, would two wines ship to my home in Virginia soon, or would I accrue a case over time that eventually shipped when the weather went cool again, akin to the garagiste model?
Thanks so much.

These particular wines are due to ship from NYC in late June / early July weather depending. Most of our offers are shipping from NYC and we are going to keep it that way for awhile.

Robert, how would one go about ordering?

Robert, send you an email.

Go to the Source Material website and subscribe for the offers. https://sourcematerialwine.com/