Those are all great values. The Lauer wines are going to be more steely, saline, minerally, and the Richter sweeter, more classic Mosel. I haven’t had that Keller. Hard to go wrong.
Oh! They also have the Richter 2021 Wehlener Sonnenuhr Kabinett feinherb. I’m sure that would be good too. I haven’t had it but their non-feinherb WS Kab is excellent.
I’m not one of your requested opinionators (is that a word?) but I do have more than 30 years (well, to be truthful, more) of German riesling imbibing under my belt so I will opine. I have been buying and drinking a lot of richter over the past several years and while both kabs should be excellent, I have a particular fondness for the VE.
The Keller Limestone I would say is probably somewhere between Lauer and Richter stylistically. But I agree with the others that Richter VE would be my #1 pick here, especially at these prices.
Go with one Lauer and Richter. Two slightly different styles. I personally don’t like the Richter wines as they don’t have enough acid for me as you can see many others do. I can see why they like them and understand why I don’t. It would be a good way to calibrate your palate to your preferred style.
I thought the WS Kabinett feinherb was a step down from the regular GH Kabinett. It was flabbier and overly sweet in comparison – it kind of surprised me.
I unfortunately didn’t get around to trying the straight WS Kabi, but if the choice is between WS Kabi feinherb or regular GH Kabi, go with the GH (which I liked a lot).
All this talk about value has got me thinking about my own preferences and buying habits. I drink a lot of German Kabinetts and feinherbs - my most consumed kind of white wine the last few years. Richter has been part of the mix for maybe half a decade but I decided to stop buying them this vintage (‘22). Yes they are very inexpensive, but I’ve consistently found that I like many other wines of this type more (Lauer, Merkelbach, Dönnhoff, Prüm, Schaefer, Falkenstein, von Schubert, and others). A lot of different styles, yes, and many are quite a bit more expensive than Richter. It all comes down to personal taste and price sensitivity. Richter is very good and very low priced, but for a few dollars more I can get something I prefer.
Broader context is how wonderful is the world of German Riesling Kabinetts, with tons of excellent choices in the $20-$60 range. One can buy nearly any Kabinett in this price range except for Keller and Egon Müller.
Coincidentally, I bought the 2021 Donnhoff Oberhauser Leistenberg Kabinett and 2021 Keller Limestone there last week. Would recommend both at their prices.
I’ve only had one bottle of the 21 Leistenberg Kabi so far, but I liked it less than I have the last few vintages (which wasn’t the case for most 21 Kabinetts I’ve had so far). I greatly prefer the Max Ferd VE Kabi in 21.
I’ll give that one a try. Like you, the ‘21 Donnhoff OL Kab is not among the upper tier of that bottling — for my preferences —- but I have fairly extreme preferences when it comes to Riesling, particularly sweet Riesling, so I try to keep that in mind when making recs to others. Honestly, the Keller didn’t have enough zip, and came across a touch too sweet, for it to be a re-buy for me, but I imagine most would enjoy it, and many more than me.
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