Some thoughts on Mosel-Saar-Ruwer 2007

Here some thoughts from the annual presentation of the Grosser Ring in Trier last week, at which all the VDP Estates presented a representative collection of their portfolio.

Joh. Jos. Prüm
I was expecting Manfred Prüm to do well in a vintage that mixes the qualities of 2001 and 1997. I was not disappointed: all wines on show (Bernkasteler Badstube Feinherb), Graacher Himmelreich Kabinett, Wehlener Sonnenuhr Spätlese and Auslese) indicate stunning freshness, zesty acidity and superb playfulness on the palate. At this stage of their development (remember that these are coming from cask samples), every single wine was a classic in its category. This is a must buy for any lover of Mosel wines.

Fritz Haag
This Estate produced a stunning portfolio of wines and produced one of the wines of the vintage in my eyes: the stunning Brauneberger Juffer-Sonnenuhr Spätlese. This defies the elements and is at the level of the legendary 2001 bottlings. Also the Auslese GK was mind-boggling.

Schloss Lieser
This Estate is now at cruising speed and it is not surprising that it produced a classical range of wine, in which the Brauneberger bottlings show finesse and the Lieser bottlings impress by their zest and notes of cassis. The Brauneberger Juffer-Sonnenuhr Spätlese is a great success with superb delineation and flavour precision. Its only default is … that Fritz Haag made a more playful one. It is a great wine on its own right. The Lieser Kabinett was also superbly racy this year with a definite cassis touch to the aromatics which adds to its freshness. Incredible but true, the Estate produced a full range of BA and TBA bottlings!

Wwe Dr. Thanisch – Erben Thanisch
This Estate also made some nice wines. She presented a very sappy Badstube KAbinett (which will be very cheap and hence a great QPR). The Bernkasteler Doctor Spätlese is also a great success with the typical softness and notes of yellow fruit. The Doctor Auslese is still closed and hence difficult to judge but the Auction Doctor Auslese is superb with finesse and elegance: this is the feine Auslese par excellence. I am looking forward to tasting this again at the auction September! Pro-memoriam, the Estate also produced tiny quantities of Doctor BA and TBA in 2007. I love the BA, which has retained freshness and admired the TBA for its complexity (I am not a TBA boy).

Willi Schaefer
I had the chance to taste some of the Estate’s wines in the spring and so I was already prepared to the level of quality. Willi and Christoph excelled at this vintage and everything that I have tasted is at least outstanding. The Himmelreich Kabinett -2- is already open for business while the Himmelreich Kabinett -9- is more structured and requires more time. Both Domprobst Kabinett showed the telltale touch of orange peel wrapped in zesty acidity: simply stunning. The Domprobst Spätlese -12- was nearly perfect but the Domprobst Spätlese -18- (Auction) was in another league: in addition to the Domprobst flavours came in some zesty botrytis. My favourite wine remains the Himmelreich Auslese which is lighter and yet so intense (with again zesty botrytis notes). The Domprobst Auslese -15- (Auction) is light, intense, powerful and incredibly complex.

Reinhold Haart
Theo made a classical portfolio of wines, which come over as less massive and overpowering as in 2005 or 2006 (and even 2004). The Goldtröpfchen Kabinett is a great buy (if one can find it) with zesty flavours of peaches and nice notes of exotic fruit. The Gräfenberg Spätlese is good but somewhat more squared. The Goldtröpfchen Spätlese -14- is remarkably aromatic and playful on the palate and avoids the weight of some of the other bottlings on show. The wine of the tasting was however for me the incredibly multi-layered Ohligsberg Auslese: this combined presence and lightness. Great stuff.

Dr. F. Weins-Prüm
It didn’t surprise me that Bert Selbach did very well in this vintage. He produced a rather weighty Wehlener Sonnenuhr Kabinett, a dream of a fresh and easy Wehlener Sonnenuhr Spätlese and an incredibly refined, playful and elegant Erdener Prälat Spätlese. This latter showed great flavours of yellow peaches but remained extremely light on the palate. Prices are still reasonable and offer great QPR.

von Hövel
This Estate surprised me (and not only me) with one his greatest collections ever: all wines share the same sappy acidity, playfulness on the palate and enough residual sugar for proper aging. The Scharzhofberger Auslese* -12-, the Kanzemer Hörecker Auslese* and the Auction Oberemmeler Hütte Auslese ** were great wines in a great style not seen here since 2001.

Dr. Wagner
The Estate produced a great collection of Spätlese and Auslese in 2006 and also the 2007 portfolio is very solid. All wines are clean, sappy and well made. They don't have the magic of last year (they come over as somewhat simpler in structure) but given their reasonable pricing structure, they offer good QPR. As in previous vintages, the Ockfener Bockstein is my favourite at this early stage of development.

Geltz-Zilliken
Hanno Zilliken made classical wines with more zest than anyone else on the day. All bottlings shows strong acidity but the wines remain zesty thanks to good presence on the palate. The Saarburger Rausch Spätlese is maybe just a touch too dry for long-term cellaring (and god knows how great aged Zilliken wines can be!) but the Rausch Auslese GK -3- (regular one) is a masterpiece of precision, clean playful notes of botrytis and length.

Egon Müller-Scharzhof
This Estate’s wines created more controversy than usually among wine lovers. The Scharzhof QbA -2- is true to the vintage and a great wine as was the Scharzhofberger Kabinett -5- (one needs to be very careful on the AP number this vintage). However, the Scharzhofberger Spätlese -6- did not really impress me: was it the 9.5% alc? At this stage of its development, it lacked the playful side of great Egon bottlings. The Scharzhofberger Auslese (there is only one regular one AFAIU) was stunning in terms of aromatics but the wine came over as a touch too low in sweetness for long-term cellaring.

von Othegraven
This Estate excelled with its Kanzemer Altenberg bottlings. The regular Spätlese -8- is a real little gem and more balanced to my taste to the slightly Austere and dry-ish Spätlese Alte Reben -7-. The Ockfener Bockstein Auslese is also very nice even if made in a somewhat robust style.

Karthäuserhof
Werner Tyrell made a great collection of off-dry wines. His Spätlese, Auslese and Auslese Nr. 51 were great with good (not overpowering acidity), plenty of white and yellow fruit on the nose and already some of the telltale notes of green herbs. I have not had such a enticing collection at this Estate since 2002. These wines are no brainers!
Von Schubert
I had the chance to taste also the same day the portfolio of von Schubert, which is an Estate I just love. 2007 is terrific here in the off-dry portfolio. There was not a single wine that I did not find at least to be outstanding with the exception of the Bruderberg QbA, which showed really high acidity. However, the Kabinett, Spätlese, Auslese and two Auslese Fuder bottlings were all juicy and distinguished. The Estate produced for me one of the Auslese of the vintage: the Abtsberg Auslese is simply flirting with perfection: sappy acidity, incredible multi-layered complexity and great length. I was in heaven. I am curious what others will think (I am taxed to be pro-von Schubert) but to me, this is classic stuff. Even the Eiswein (I am not really an Eiswein drinker) was nice (it came from an early frost in November and is more in the style of an Auslese-Eiswein with lots of fresh fruit and not too high acidity).


In addition, I tasted some other great wines, among which a von Kesselstatt Scharzhofberger Auslese lGK (powerful yet fresh and not BA in type), a Van Volxem Wawern Goldberg (his newest baby: I am not a fan of the Van Volxem style but this is the first wine where I felt that this off-dry style really worked) and a superb Heymann-Löwenstein Winninger Röttgen Auslese lGK (creamy, precise, smooth, long).

From this and other tastings, 2007 is a great success in the Mosel-Saar-Ruwer (and not only there so I understand). The flavour aromatics share the zesty acidity of 2004 with the aromatic complexity of 2001 or 1997. The strength of the vintage is obviously Spätlese-Auslese, where plenty of great zesty wines were made.

I am definitively in the market for these beauties!

von Hovel showed up a lot when I researched some `99 F W Gymnasium Oberemmeler Rosenberg. I have 3 bottles stashed away and opened one last night. Delicious.
Great posting, hope to see some of these over here. Buy it might take some time!

The Terry Theise Portfolio tasting rolls into Boston on Monday. I'll be popping corks and tasting the wines from noon to 4. From your notes and Terry's "warning" about the high quality, I'm really looking forward to it!

Thanks for report. Along with another recent report for John Gilman, looks like I need to be saving my wine dollars for 2007 Riesling

[David M. Bueker]

The Terry Theise Portfolio tasting rolls into Boston on Monday. I'll be popping corks and tasting the wines from noon to 4. From your notes and Terry's "warning" about the high quality, I'm really looking forward to it!

Peter! Welcome! Good to see you around these parts.

I'm headed to New York for the tasting on Tuesday. Should be fun being in NYC when it's 100 degrees.

For those who don't know Peter - he's primarily responsible for me being a total German wine geek. All it took was one well-chosen case (Schaefer, Donnhoff, Catoir, Selbach), and I was permanently hooked.

Jean - thanks for the notes. I'm especially looking forward to meeting Christoph Schaefer this week.

Ah yes, Christoph talked about his US tour. I warned him that the landing of the beatles in the 60s will be nothing in the face of the collective history when people know that he will be in the US. Prove me right Send three girls on him and send me the picture pleeeeeeeease.

Intereresting notes on the Egon Muller. How much of that difficult aspect do you think will smooth out with time? Do his wines often show well or with difficulty at this stage?

Such a different impressions one can have.

The Von schubert wines are for me very flat, volymonius and completely lacking interest.

Fritz Haag is making better 2007 after a quite good 2006 but a string of really bad efforts from them from 2003 to 2005. Still for me along long way from the performance in the 90s.

Karthauserhoif has for me been toghether with JJ Prum the best in Mosel the last five years, but made quite disappointing wines 2007. Very good, but not at the level of the last years

All in all 2007 is shaping up for an fantastically interesting year. I think it will be an exceptional year, far better than 2005. Interestingly many top estates made only very good wines, while many less reputable vineyards made the best wine I have tried from them!

My impression is that 2007 is a great vintage. In contrast to 2005 which was for me very good.

Best
Fredrik Svensson, Luxembourg

My impression is that 2007 is a great vintage. In contrast to 2005 which was for me very good.

Best
Fredrik Svensson, Luxembourg

Different styles, no?

[David M. Bueker]

My impression is that 2007 is a great vintage. In contrast to 2005 which was for me very good.

Best
Fredrik Svensson, Luxembourg

Different styles, no?

Impossible to compare them

David, the Boston show will be "interesting" as we found out just this past week that the CT tasting was canceled, bringing the entire entourage of Germans and Austrians (maybe a Champenois) here.

As the temperature soared locally into the 90's, the sorting of 300+ bottles into the tasting order was done in our walk-in Beer 'Fridge! By luck we're conducting the tasting outside of downtown Boston, hopefully avoiding an extra 5 degrees of heat, but its going to be a scorcher Monday nonetheless.

Such a different impressions one can have.

The Von schubert wines are for me very flat, volymonius and completely lacking interest.

Fritz Haag is making better 2007 after a quite good 2006 but a string of really bad efforts from them from 2003 to 2005. Still for me along long way from the performance in the 90s.

Karthauserhof has for me been toghether with JJ Prum the best in Mosel the last five years, but made quite disappointing wines 2007. Very good, but not at the level of the last years

All in all 2007 is shaping up for an fantastically interesting year. I think it will be an exceptional year, far better than 2005. Interestingly many top estates made only very good wines, while many less reputable vineyards made the best wine I have tried from them!

My impression is that 2007 is a great vintage. In contrast to 2005 which was for me very good.

Best
Fredrik Svensson, Luxembourg

Fredrik,
von Schubert 2007 too voluminous, 2004 Fritz Haag bad, Karthäuserhof 2002-2006 great but 2007 bad... I am at a loss to understand what style you enjoy.
Who made great 2007 then in your eyes?

[David M. Bueker]

David, the Boston show will be "interesting" as we found out just this past week that the CT tasting was canceled, bringing the entire entourage of Germans and Austrians (maybe a Champenois) here.

As the temperature soared locally into the 90's, the sorting of 300+ bottles into the tasting order was done in our walk-in Beer 'Fridge! By luck we're conducting the tasting outside of downtown Boston, hopefully avoiding an extra 5 degrees of heat, but its going to be a scorcher Monday nonetheless.

There's no Champagne in the New York tasting book, so I guess they skipped it this year.

New York promises to be ridiculously hot Tuesday.

Let's compare notes later on.

David: Thanks for the great notes.

Peter: You're the one who set Bueker on the path? Well done, man!

Who made great 2007 then in your eyes?

So far I have only been really really impressed by J J Prum and Clemens Bush. But I have yet to try a lot as for example Heymann- Löwenstein.

Generally thou I am more impressed with the 2007s than the 2005s.

Best
Fredrik Svensson. Luxembourg

Generally thou I am more impressed with the 2007s than the 2005s.

Best
Fredrik Svensson. Luxembourg

I think what some of us are getting at is the question of why you were more impressed with 07s than 05s?

For people like myself, 01 is the most impressive recent vintage because of the regal quality of the acids. Others might choose 05 because of the balance between lusher fruit and firm acids. A few oddballs might choose 06 because of the strict selection among a handful of producers, or maybe 04 if they like crisp early-drinking wines.

Just curious about your logic?

Great report and thanks much for the info!

Getting excited again about the new releases. If the tastings are now, when will the wines start to arrive?

Also if it is a cross between a 1997 and the 2001, which of these two vintage's characteristics show through? I agree with Rahsaan, I would like to better understand what characteristics people like this vintage. I too perfer the 2001's so far but like the 2004 for their focus and the 2005's for the completeness.

Rahsann

Good question and a bit too early still for me to make a complete answerer.

I do not find the 2005 balanced between lusher fruit and firm acids. In fact, I think of 2005 as unbalanced with too low acidities and too ripe forward fruit.

2007 seems more balanced. The wines seems to me more complete and harmonic and I have yet to see much of acidity problems. Generally the 2007s combine more of the true character of Mosel with seemingly great quality. The wines have not so much ripe forward fruit but instead an aromatic profile that shows a balanced fruit with more complex terroir impressions.

I tend to be impressed with wines that are balanced between all components and harmonic - which for me are two separate things. I am also impressed when the wines show terroir characteristics and personality. I think 2007 has all of this. If it has so much of personality is too early to tell but it seems that the vintage might become distinguishable. Have to come back to define why in a year or two but the wines stand out in such a way that despite their youth they have some kind of personality from the year.

Best
Fredrik Svensson, Luxembourg

Great report and thanks much for the info!

Getting excited again about the new releases. If the tastings are now, when will the wines start to arrive?

Also if it is a cross between a 1997 and the 2001, which of these two vintage's characteristics show through? I agree with Rahsaan, I would like to better understand what characteristics people like this vintage. I too perfer the 2001's so far but like the 2004 for their focus and the 2005's for the completeness.

it has the aromatic compelxity of 1997 and the zesty balance and acidity of 2001. 2004 doesn't have the physiological ripeness of 2001. 2005 is off the mark as it is a much warmer vintage and is really a modern version of 1975 (only that it is much more powerful).

2007 seems more balanced. The wines seems to me more complete and harmonic and I have yet to see much of acidity problems.

Many of these words ('balanced' 'complete' 'harmonic') are quite subjective when it comes to wine. But, the fact that you find 2005 too ripe is telling, and I can see why you might prefer 2007. I think I might prefer 2007 as well.

Although, truth be told, there are so many different German wines and I find the stuff to be so delicious that I could find a reason to drink lots of great riesling from any vintage.

Great report and thanks much for the info!

Getting excited again about the new releases. If the tastings are now, when will the wines start to arrive?

Also if it is a cross between a 1997 and the 2001, which of these two vintage's characteristics show through? I agree with Rahsaan, I would like to better understand what characteristics people like this vintage. I too perfer the 2001's so far but like the 2004 for their focus and the 2005's for the completeness.

it has the aromatic compelxity of 1997 and the zesty balance and acidity of 2001. 2004 doesn't have the physiological ripeness of 2001. 2005 is off the mark as it is a much warmer vintage and is really a modern version of 1975 (only that it is much more powerful).

Thanks much for the explanation! Much appreciated!

Mike

Jean,
Thanks for the letting us read about your impressions of these wines. The Grosser Ring was in Stockholm about two weeks ago and I had thought to write a similar report myself, but have a hard time to find the time. So let me just add some comments and impressions of my own. In general I was most impressed by the quality of 2007. I have rarely tasted wines with such purity and freshness. Although I mostly prefer dry wines, I fell totally for these wonderfully balanced beauties.

J. J. Prüm
There were no 2007s showed in Stockholm. Instead three from 0'04, that I found hard to taste. I think they were closing up and were rather rubbery on the nose. the only real good wine they showed was a 2005 Whelener Sonnenuhr GKA that had a great, opulent fruit, although maybe starting to close up a bit too.

Wwe Dr. Thanisch – Erben Thanisch
The 2007 Doctor Kabinett was delicious. Also the comparison with the 2007 Badstube Kabinett was most interesting. I tasted the Badstube first and while I found it to be quite good, it was blown away by the stylishness and complexity of the Doctor. An amazing achievement for a Kabinett!

von Hövel
Surprised me too. Extremely fresh and delicious due to a singing acidity. The wines felt like drinking from a cold waterfall in the mountains, cleansing and refreshing. His two 2007 Scharzhofbergers, a Spätlese and an Auslese also had an extra minerality that made them even more interesting.

Geltz-Zilliken
Same style as von Hövel but , to me, even a notch more delicious. The Rausch Auslese GK -3- absolutely exceptional, very racy, deep and, again, refreshing. Also the "regular" Rausch Auslese -6- was very good.

Egon Müller-Scharzhof
The Kabinett was nice. Spicy, dryish and very mineral, did not note the AP-number, sorry.
There was no Spätlese shown here, instead an Auslese that was deep, spicy, racy and very mineral and an Auslese GK that was very thick and oily, more like a Beerenauslese. Chewable with great fruit.

Von Othegraven
Very charming and elegant wines. I am not quite sure if I like them or if I feel that they lack some substance. The Kanzemer Altenberg Spätlese Erste Gewächs. Had a nice minerality and was very stylish. Almost dry aftertaste. Very good.

Schloss Saarstein
A very good Spätlese trocken with delicious fruit and great acidity. A splendid trocken. Interestingly, they also showed a rather nice, clean and slightly earthy Pinot Blanc.

Van Volxem
I must say that I really fell for these wines, though I can imagine why you did not. They are built quite differently, more like serious Burgundies, almost dry and with a great structure and enormous depth. The Braunfels, the Alte Reben and, in particular the Scharzhofberg Erste Gewächs were all great with depth, complexity and sometimes and extreme minerality. That the mighty Roman Niewodnicznski (sic!), nicknamed Niewo, was most interesting to speak and listen to was indeed another bonus. Talk about devotion!

Karthäuserhof
Only one '07 on display, the Kabinett feinherb which was good and nicely balanced. Spicy and clean.

Clemens-Busch
Another very interesting personality here, as were his wines. I only had a very limited experience of his wines previously, so it was very interesting to meet him and taste the wines. Very special wines, late harvested and almost fermented to dryness, so you can imagine that we are talking about heavy wines with high alcohol. In particular the 2006 Auslese "Rothenpfad" felt more like a BA/TBA in the nose and the mouth, but was rather dry and rather bitter from the alcohol (I failed to note the level, but think it was 14-15% abv). Extremely dense and interesting wines, but lacking the stylishness that I found in, for instance, van Volxem's wines. I wouldn't exactly describe Clemens-Busch's wines as balanced, at least not based on the wines I tasted here.

Reinhold Haart
Purity and cleanliness. Piesport Goldtröpfchen Spätlese Erste Gewächs was my favourite.

Heymann-Löwenstein
No '07s on display, "only" a good selection of '06s. Probably the most minerally dense wines of the tasting. Almost a bit salty. In particular Uhlen Erste Gewächs. The '06 Uhlen Auslese GK was magnificent, with a wonderful grape fruity character. A great achievement!

Dr Loosen
Disappointed me a bit, lacked character, but the 2007 Ürziger Würzgarten Auslese GK was very good. good intensity and very fresh finish.

Willi Schaefer
Perhaps the freshes and purest of all the producers, to point that I felt that they might be lacking a little in character, but not seriously so. A magnificent 2007 Graacher Domprobst Auslese showing good depth, minerality and a very fresh fruit and acidity.

St- Urbans-Hof
This estate surprised me with the quality of their wines. Furthermore, they had a consequent house style that was recognizable though their portfolio. A pure, apply fruitiness and a chewable minerality. My favourite was the 2007 Ockfener Bockstein Auslese

Geheimrat J. Wegeler
Well made wines with a good intensity. the 2007 Wehlener Sonnenuhr Spätlese had a dense fruity core almost tart minerality in the finish. Chewable and with good balance. Two very fine Doctors, Auslese and BA, were also shown, but from 2006. Great, but maybe a touch heavy.

I hope I have been able to describe my impressions of this fine vintage as well as my preferences in an understandable way (Rahsaan?). Maybe David will fill in with some more comments from the tastings he's going to right now.

Cheers, Anders

Clemens-Busch
In particular the 2006 "Falkenlay" felt more like a BA/TBA in the nose and the mouth, but was rather dry. Extremely dense and interesting wines, but lacking the stylishness that I found in, for instance, van Volxem's wines. I wouldn't exactly describe Clemens-Busch's wines as balanced.

Interesting. I went to a small pre-VDP tasting with Clemens Busch today and I thought his 2006 spätlese trocken *** was excellent, very firm, very refined, and very balanced. The 06 Vom Roten Schiefer was a bit more like what you describe, rich and exotic, but it didn't get too far out of whack for my palate. At 16 and 18GBP I would definitely buy more some of each to compare in more detail, if I ever get around to it.

I must say they were nothing like the 03 Weissenberg spätlese we had the other night, so perhaps there is a lot of stylistic eclecticism going on here. I didn't get a chance to talk to him because of the crowds. Hopefully tomorrow.

Clemens-Busch
In particular the 2006 "Falkenlay" felt more like a BA/TBA in the nose and the mouth, but was rather dry. Extremely dense and interesting wines, but lacking the stylishness that I found in, for instance, van Volxem's wines. I wouldn't exactly describe Clemens-Busch's wines as balanced.

Interesting. I went to a small pre-VDP tasting with Clemens Busch today and I thought his 2006 spätlese trocken *** was excellent, very firm, very refined, and very balanced. The 06 Vom Roten Schiefer was a bit more like what you describe, rich and exotic, but it didn't get too far out of whack for my palate. At 16 and 18GBP I would definitely buy more some of each to compare in more detail, if I ever get around to it.

I must say they were nothing like the 03 Weissenberg spätlese we had the other night, so perhaps there is a lot of stylistic eclecticism going on here. I didn't get a chance to talk to him because of the crowds. Hopefully tomorrow.

Rahsaan, I just noted that I need to correct my note. It refers to the 2006 Auslese "Rothenpfad", not "Falkenlay". Sorry, I'll correct it in my note above. Let us know what you find tomorrow. At least I think we could agree that he is a rather eccentric guy? But then, who isn't...?
/A