With the Graacher Himmelreich, Thomas Haag’s Weingut Schloss Lieser cultivates one of the great steep-slope vineyards of the Middle Mosel. Sheltered within the Mosel Valley and facing southwest to south, the vineyards are rooted in blue and grey slate that warms readily, while underground water veins supply the vines throughout the growing season and promote even ripening. Compared with the steeper, more muscular Niederberg Helden, the Himmelreich often displays slightly juicier, more immediately approachable fruit without sacrificing a trace of mineral tension. The Graacher Himmelreich Riesling Kabinett 2025 unites this privileged terroir with the delicacy and fine fruit sweetness of a Kabinett. On the nose, citrus fruit, white peach, and ripe pale orchard fruits mingle with a fine stony spice. On the palate, the Riesling is succulent and poised, offering pure fruit, lively acidity, and seamlessly integrated sweetness. Minerality provides tension and keeps the wine light and precise despite its aromatic generosity, leading into a long, refreshing finish where citrus and slate savor return once more.

The 2025 vintage along the Mosel produced ripe, aromatically concentrated Rieslings that preserved their vibrant freshness. In the Graacher Himmelreich, this combination comes into its own, as ripe fruit is carried by lively acidity and the site’s unmistakable mineral imprint.

Delightful already in its youth, this Kabinett possesses the acidity and mineral backbone needed for a long evolution in bottle, during which the fruit will gain added refinement and the Himmelreich’s signature interplay of juiciness, spice, and minerality will grow ever more nuanced.