drink soon
A great vintage which produced rich and concentrated wines of impressive longevity
Weather Conditions
Unique! The weather in spring was perfect. The budding was around 15th April, the flowering around 21st June and temperatures of up to almost 40C. at the beginning of August meant that the development of the Riesling was only held back by very low humidity. A brief dramatic change of temperature with heavy rainfall at the end of August caused premature botrytis, which reduced the potential crop by up to one third. However, those grapes that remained on the vine benefited from this rain and the sunshine which followed in September and October.
Best Appellations
As a result, this was a very small vintage with great concentration and little or no botrytis except for Beeren- and Trockenbeerenausleses. Concentrated mineral and fruit flavours (with little or no botrytis) and ripe acidity in perfect balance makes this the finest vintage since 1971 throughout Germany, with the greatest wines coming from the Mosel/Saar/Ruwer. The finest Auseleses are beginning to show there superb quality and elegance and the best wines will last until the middle of the 21st century – or longer. A truly wonderful vintage, including for Eiswein!
Best Producers
Schloss Saarstein and Egon Muller made perfect wines in the Saar valley and Fritz Haag in the Mosel, as well as the Staatsweingut in Steinberg vineyard. They were among a host of others to make superb wines.
