Stein Rosé Trocken | 2025

Every spring, I become the annoying buyer, sending my supplier broken-record emails: “When is Stein Rosé coming?” “Is the Stein Rosé in yet?” “Is it here yet??” “August!”

This year’s release was delayed, but worth the wait. As Jancis Robinson put it, the 2025 German vintage was “Everything in Balance.” If you’ve been reading along for a few years, you know that we, I, pine for this rosé. Ulli Stein is one of the Mosel’s great, obsessive contrarians—a defender of brutally steep, labor-drenching slopes, crazy old vines, and the glory of farming places that make no economic sense. He farms some of the valley’s oldest vineyards, including sensational sites of Pinot Noir, Merlot, and Cabernet—the wild underdogs in Riesling’s grand arena.

Like its maker, this wine is too contrarian. Pinot Noir dominates, with a bit of Cabernet Sauvignon and Merlot. It’s made using a unique combination of direct pressing and the bleeding method known as saignée, then raised entirely in steel. One sip time-warps me straight back to childhood, summers at Colony Beach Club, living off Marino's Italian Ice. The flavor is total summer nostalgia: as if cherry and watermelon had a baby, and bestie lemon came along. It’s icy and refined, endlessly pink and juicy, and lights up every cranny of your mouth like a string of lightbulbs. Get what you can. ~Allegra Angelo