We first spotted Stein’s Domwein (Cathedral wine) at the excellent and very friendly Restaurant Zum Eichamt in Zell-Merl. On our next visit we called Dr Ulrich Stein and made our way up to his amazing house at the top of the hill above the village of Alf. It was dark, rainy and hard to find. Vines mark the beginning of the steep drop. Even on the darkest winter evening the view downstream is breathtaking. Ulrich’s signature technique is to blend two tanks, one a very racy early-picking with another, much richer late-picking. He says that gives each wine the best of both worlds, the nervy higher acidity with as sense of depth and ripeness.
