Weingut Moselschild, Riesling Auslese Trocken, “Erdener Treppchen”

Today’s wine is a genuine viticultural artifact, priced well below what I think such a thing should cost. But in a wine-rich place like Germany’s Mosel, with its dense concentration of vineyards and centuries of winemaking history, treasures like today’s 2002 Auslese Trocken (Dry) seem to be hiding around every corner. During my last visit to Germany, a close friend and fellow Riesling enthusiast introduced me to the wines of Moselschild, a hotel and onetime winery in the village of Ürzig whose dark cellars still contain pristine stocks of back-vintage wines. The property sits at the base of the “Ürziger Wurzgarten” vineyard, one of several prime sites the Schild family made wines from. Another of these was “Erdener Treppchen,” in neighboring Erden, where the grade is so steep a set of stone steps was installed years ago to help farmers navigate it. Today’s vibrant ’02 from the “little staircase of Erden” was one of several Moselschild back-vintage bottlings I was privileged to taste—t