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Welcome. This website is devoted to the great wine estates of Germany, whose wines are available in the United States. It is the objective of owner, Eric Litchfield, to provide current information on all aspects of the German wine trade, with informative tasting notes, vintage reports, links to other German wine websites, and assist the viewer in purchasing wines of interest from the fine wine shops listed on the Wine Shops for Wine Lovers page. It is our goal to make GermanWineEstates, The Site for German Wine Lovers.
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2009 Harvest at Selbach-Oster
…..2009…this year will be remembered in very different ways.
First and foremost, the problems the world's economy and finance system are facing, not only ruled the headlines but, though to a varying degree, really affected peoples' lives, everywhere around the globe.
The wine business in Germany certainly wasn't spared from that development, despite the surprising resilience the German domestic economy showed against the impact of that crisis so far.
Let us look at the smaller picture, southwest Germany, wine country….:
While not making big international headlines - yet - Mother Nature, seemingly unimpressed by the man-made economic problems, came up with a wonderful vintage, making '09 a year whose wines will be remembered very fondly.
Growing season:
The series of relatively mild winters continued in 2008/2009. November and December were on the warm side until cold weather finally arrived shortly before New Year's, setting the stage for 2008 Eiswein.
January 2009 turned out to be a very cold month, whose median temperature lay significantly below that of January 2008 and even slightly below the 20 year average. No damage to the vines but, as a side benefit of the weeks of cold weather with freezing temperatures, a number of Mediterranean critters who had migrated north to become permanent "guests" ( better: pests ) in our vineyards, didn't survive in the same numbers as in the previous, mild winters….
Spring started early and was very warm. April produced unusually warm temperatures. May, June and July were also warmer than the longterm median. Flowering started here in the first days of June, and, in the better vineyard sites led to a quick and solid pollination before a cooler period in mid June caused staggered flowering in the cooler vineyards.
2009 brought no major trouble with pests except that "Peronospora" or downey mildew caused a lot of headaches and extra foliage work in June and July. The practice of early de-leafing parts of the canopy ( the grape zone ) to provide better air circulation and to harden the skins of the grapes, proved beneficial. Both August and September were beautiful, warm summer months, albeit much too dry. We experienced no hail during the season, nor damaging thunderstorms. The rainfall received over three days in early October was good enough to refresh the vines and to provide the moisture in the soil which, together with morning mist rising from the Mosel, would enable botrytis to make a showing in the 2nd half of October.
October was a "normal" October, with plenty of sunshine, warm days and cool nights. November will be remembered as unusually warm ( many days up to 18° C ) and December has been on the mild side also, until the 12th. A cold snap with very low temperatures enabled us to make Eiswein on the 19th and 20th of December.
Harvest:
The harvest took place under very friendly weather conditions, making for a low stress harvest and excellent results in terms of quality. We picked under very favourable conditions, starting on October 6th, finishing on November 9thThe grapes, even though we already anticipated good ripeness and aroma, surprised us with excellent physiological ripeness and very high sugar readings, while displaying surprisingly healthy levels of - ripe - acidity. The grapes were rather thick-skinned, due to the dry growing season. They had a lot of pulp, which meant lower juice extraction from the press. On the other hand it meant deliciously fragrant, aromatic, "yummy" juice with a perfect "yin - yang"of ripe fruit and equally ripe but crisp acidity.
Some botrytis developed in the second week of October and spread slowly enough to make it easy to plan and pick the raw material for dry wines as well as for the sweeter wines. Selecting bunches in the vineyard and then again at the winery enabled us to make Beerenauslese and Trockenbeerenauslese.
The entire harvest was picked at Spaetlese and above ripeness ( as defined by the German Wine Law ), the vast majority of the grapes weighing in as Auslese. As customary we "downgraded" some of lots to Kabinett and some even to QbA level to service the market. The majority of our 2009 offerings, however, will be ripe, complex Spaetlesen and Auslesen. Fortunately there is still a good supply of sleek, elegant 2008 Kabinett and Spaetlese to fill the demand for Kabinett.
With all the good news from the vineyard there is one downside: our 2009 harvest ends up being 25% smaller than 2008!
Wines:
The majority of our '09s have finished fermenting. Fermentations generally went very well and produced ripe, flavourful, multi-faceted Rieslings. Little Pinot Blanc we have ( 2% ), the "Weissburgunder" turned out excellent. As every year, we have a number of "candidates" still making their way towards becoming "wine" in a very slow manner. We are used to those stragglers, however, since slow or stuck fermentations come with our preference to ferment with "wild", indigenous yeasts.
The young, yeasty wines taste very promising. 2009 as a vintage combines excellent ripeness with equally good, harmonious acidity and a nice touch of flinty minerality from our slate soils. The Rieslings are ripe and generous without being big or overweight. In short, 2009, particularly in the upper tier of the "Praedikat" hierarchy, will be good for some excitement.
GermanWineEstates recorded its second best year in viewer readership since the website was founded in 2000. This includes both number of viewers and unique readership, two of the most relevant gauges used for statistical analysis. As interest in Riesling and German wines continues to rise at substantial rates, I anticipate that 2010 will be a very positive year in the number of visitors viewing GWE.
Viewers came from 73 different countries, with Canada, Germany, United Kingdom, Singapore and Italy representing the top five foreign countries. I am also happy to report that GermanWineEstates maintains a high level of returning viewers from around the world, signifying that the information found on these pages offers information which has proven to be useful in the various aspects of German wine appreciation.
I wish to thank all those who have enjoyed their visit to GWE in 2009, and hope that in 2010, the website will provide more interesting facts and information about German wine, making the GermanWineEstates The Site for German Wine Lovers.
The VDP Prädikatsweingüter (Prädikat Wine Estates) took advantage of the icy temperatures of recent days to harvest grapes for Eiswein. Here are a few reports from growers in various parts of German wine country.
Weingut Reichsgraf von Kesselstatt/Saar Valley
Scharzhofbeger Riesling Eiswein
Annegret Reh-Gartner, estate proprietor, is thrilled to announce that the estate's team was able to pick enough frozen and very ripe (130° Oechsle) grapes for ca. 500 liters of Eiswein at 6:00 a.m. on 18 December, at a chilly -9°C/15.8°F. "This is the crowning touch to a terrific 2009 vintage."
Weingut Hans Wirsching/Iphofen in southeastern Franken
Iphöfer Kronsberg Riesling Eiswein
The Wirsching team was out in the bitter cold (-10°C/14°F) early on 18 December to pick frozen Riesling grapes with a ripeness level of 193° Oechsle. Overall, estate proprietor Dr. Heinrich Wirsching is exceptionally pleased with vintage 2009: "This year marks the 350th anniversary of the Silvaner grape in Germany. In our top site, Julius-Echter-Berg, we were fortunate enough to have harvested Silvaner ripe enough (more than 160° Oechsle) to qualify for TBA and Beerenauslese status.
Weingut Schmitt's Kinder/Randersacker in central Franken
Randersackerer Sonnenstuhl Silvaner Eiswein
The Silvaner anniversary year ended on a good note for Karl Schmitt: "Between 6:30 and 8:00 a.m. on 18 December, we harvested frozen Silvaner grapes with a ripeness of 212° Oechsle. Despite the small yield (ca. less than 15% of normal volume) and freezing temperatures (-11°C/ 12.2°F), our team is elated with this rare gift."
Weingut S.A. Prüm/Bernkastel-Wehlen in the Mosel Valley
Graacher Himmelreich Riesling Eiswein
The Eiswein harvest for Raimund Prüm and team started at 8:00 a.m. on 18 December. By 10:00 a.m., the frozen Riesling grapes were in the cellar and ready to press.
Weingut Deutzhof Cossmann-Hehle/Mayschoss in the Ahr
Alterahrer Eck Riesling Eiswein
Wolfgang Hehle reports: "At a temperature of -9°C/15.8°F our team of nine harvested Riesling from 7:30 to 9:00 a.m. (18 December) in this steep, slate site. Some of the vines are ungrafted. Our Eiswein measured 163° on the Oechsle scale."
Wein- und Sektgut Barth/Hattenheim in the Rheingau
Hallgartener Jungfer Riesling Eiswein
Between 7:00 and 8:00 a.m. (18 December), and during a glorious, but cold (-8.3°C/17°F) sunrise, the Barth team harvested Riesling grapes with 183° Oechsle. The frozen ccrop yielded a total of 50 liters.
Weingut Fitz-Ritter/Bad Dürkheim in the Pfalz
Dürkheimer Hochbenn Riesling Eiswein
Under clear skies and a light blanket of snow (-10°C/14°F), a team of 20 began picking at 7:00 a.m. and finished by 8:30 a.m. Must weights measured 165° Oechsle.
Hessische Staatsweingüter Kloster Eberbach in the Rheingau
Staatsdomaine Bergstrasse/Bensheim in the Hessische Bergstrasse (south of Frankfurt)
Heppenheimer Centgericht Riesling Eiswein
According to managing director Dieter Greiner, the Hessian State domain in the Bergstrasse harvested 200 liters of Eiswein with 190° Oechsle on 18 December.
Fürstlich Castell'sches Domänenamt/Castell in eastern Franken
Casteller Schlossberg Silvaner Eiswein, Casteller Kugelspiel Silvaner Eiswein
On 18 December, in the chilly (-9°C/15.8°F) morning hours, the estate's team picked frozen Silvaner grapes with 180° Oechsle in the Schlossberg and Kugelspiel sites. In all, ca. 110 liters were harvested. Silvaner, in particular, really shines in 2009...just as one would expect of a "birthday child." The estate not only hosted a grand tasting of a century of Silvaner wines to celebrate the varietal's 350th birthday in April of 2009, but also boasts the first documented site of Silvaner plantings in Germany (1659).
Weingut Graf Adelmann/Kleinbottwar in Württemberg
Kleinbottwarer Oberer Berg Muskattrollinger Eiswein
The Adelmann estate was able to harvest frozen Muskattrollinger grapes with 140° Oechsle in the early morning of 18 December, when temperatures dipped to -11°C/12.2°F. As the name implies, the late-ripening red varietal is a member of the Muscat family, and in Württemberg, an old varietal dating back to at least the mid-19th century. By 1900, Burg Schaubeck, the Adelmann's ancestral castle and home of the estate, was the last outpost for this varietal prized for its spiciness and pronounced fruitiness.
Staatsweingut Weinsberg/Weinsberg in Württemberg
Weinsberger Schemelsberg Riesling Eiswein
A team of 20 harvested frozen Riesling grapes in the ... site as of 6:30 a.m. on 18 December, when outdoor temperatures stood at -11°C/12.2°F. By 8:00 a.m. the grapes were in the cellar and being pressed. Must weights were a very solid 184° Oechsle.
Weingut Karl Haidle/Kernen-Stetten in Württemberg (Rems River Valley)
Stettener Pulvermächer Riesling Eiswein
A precious 80 liters of Riesling Eiswein grapes were harvested. Pickers worked quickly in very cold temperatures (-12°C/10.4°F). Our grapes achieved Oechsle readings of 210°.
Weingut Jürgen Ellwanger/Winterbach in Württemberg (Rems River Valley)
Winterbacher Hungerberg Riesling Eiswein
The Ellwanger family weathered temperatures of -11°C/12.2°F as of 7:00 a.m. on 18 December to pick frozen Riesling grapes with a ripeness level of 190° Oechsle. The outcome: 150 liters.
Juliusspital/Würzburg in Franken
Würzburger Abtsleite Silvaner Eiswein
Iphöfer Julius-Echter-Berg Silvaner Eiswein
The estate with the world's largest acreage of Silvaner vineyards was able to harvest Eiswein grapes in two of its top sites: Würzburger Abtsleite and Iphöfer Julius-Echer-Berg, with must weights of 175° Oechsle and 180° Oechsle, respectively, on 18 December. Picking started in the dark at 7:00 a.m. with floodlights in place. Yields resulted in 120 liters of Eiswein in each site.
Weingut Kruger-Rumpf/Münster-Sarmsheim in the Nahe
Münsterer Pittersberg Riesling Eiswein
Stefan Rumpf estimates that his frozen Riesling grapes yielded some 120 liters of Eiswein. Pickers braved temperatures of -15°C/5°F to bring in a crop with ripeness levels between 160 and 260 degrees Oechsle on 19 December.
Weingut Horst Sauer/Escherndorf in Franken (the Main Loop east of Würzburg)
Escherndorfer Lump Silvaner Eiswein
At a temperature of -14°C/6.8°F and a light blanket of snow on 19 November, we harvested Silvaner grapes with 224° Oechsle - a record-breaking high since we harvested our first Eiswein in 1992.
Weingut Ratzenberger/Bacharach in the Mittelrhein
Bacharacher Kloster Fürstental Riesling Eiswein
On 19 December, 20 pickers weathered bitterly cold temperatures (-14°C/6.8°F), 10 cm/4 inches of snow, and poor road conditions to gather ca. 300 liters of frozen grapes with an Oechsle reading of 210°.
Weingut A. Christmann/Gimmeldingen in the Pfalz
Königsbacher Idig Riesling Eiswein
Estate proprietor Stefan Christmann reports: "On 18 December, we faltered a bit...a temperature of -9°C/15.8°F wasn't really cold enough to harvest Eiswein. Now, we're glad we waited a day. The temperature dropped to -16.5°C/2.3°F. We brought in ca. 350 liters of frozen berries in perfect condition, with a must weight of 245° Oechsle.
Weingut Schloss Westerhaus/Ingelheim in Rheinhessen
Schloss Westerhaus Spätburgunder Eiswein
With a small group of "frost-resistant" helpers, Count and Countess von Schönburg-Glauchau headed for the vineyard on 19 December to pick healthy, frozen Pinot Noir grapes with an Oechsle reading of over 240°. Overall volume: ca. 200 liters from the equivalent of one kilometer (half a mile) of vines.
Staatlicher Hofkeller/Würzburg in Franken
Abtswinder Altenberg Silvaner Eiswein
From 7:00 to 9:00 a.m. on 19 December a team of 11 harvested ca. 1,400 kg/3,000 lbs of frozen Silvaner grapes with a must weight of 238° Oechsle. By noon, the first drops fell from the press.
Weingut Acham-Magin/Forst in the Pfalz
Deidesheimer Kieselberg Riesling Eiswein
After the "messy" weather of November, the estate did not count on an Eiswein harvest in 2009...but on 20 December, at a temperature of -15°C/5°F, pickers were able to gather 150 liters of frozen grapes that registered 245° on the Oechsle scale. One Eiswein customer describes the experience of sipping such a rarity as if "an angel were pissing on the tongue."
A difficult year with a Happy End!
We had the coldest winter in Rheingau since 1996/97with temperatures dropping down to -16 °C/5 F. It has been pretty cold until mid/end March. April was warm, too warm: we had the second warmest April since 1884! There are no earlier weather-records since 1884. Therefore, we got a very early bud-break like in 2007. On April 20th we were 3-4 weeks ahead in vegetation. While May was quite normal, June was too cold which caused some problems during the flowering period of the vines. This stage of development, which is normally a period of 7-10 days, has taken up to 3+ weeks. On June 9th we got hail which caused much damage in the Hattenheim and Erbach-Area. We lost 30% of Erbacher Marcobrunn, quite a disaster! June/July were much too wet, the conditions had been perfect for all those fungus you don't want to have in your grapes. We had to shorten time between spraying from 14 to 8 days which caused much more work and cost the double. Ripening started on August 12th, still two weeks ahead of a normal year. August and September were much too dry; the Rhine River had an all time historic low, even less water than in 2003. The usually large river had become a small stream.
The so-called `Golden October' helped us a lot. We started picking Riesling grapes on 5th of October, which has become quite normal for us. Pinot noir grapes were ahead with very pleasant results of 100+ °Oe.The Riesling grapes were heterogeneous throughout the area.
The area of Rüdesheim/Assmannshausen/Lorch suffered most from the lack of water. The Rüdesheim vineyards just stopped in producing sugar that is why most of the grapes had to be harvested just too early. We are lucky that we could irrigate the Rüdesheimer Berg Schlossberg and got good crop from there. The Geisenheim/Johannisberg/Winkel and Hochheim were good and normal.
Because of the hail we had especially around Oestrich/Hattenheim and Erbach a small crop with almost too much sugar. In this area, the grapes were almost like in 2003. We had some rain in October, but with cool temperatures the grapes stayed fine.We harvested 48 hl/ha, which is about 35% less than a normal year, the quality is good to very good. We were able to get trockenbeerenauslese from Marcobrunn at 240 °Oe and Pfaffenberg at 215 °Oe.
I am pleased with 2009, as mentioned it is a bit too small, but quality is pleasant, What looked like a disaster year in summer ended with fine qualities and we will have fun with those wines.
Global warming? For sure! And it's not all that bad in some situations. For example, let's take Germany's Mosel valley, one of the northernmost wine regions in the world. Historically, it's cool here, often too cold to produce enough sugar in grapes to produce wines of ripeness and balance. They used to say that Mosel wines are great only in three years out of ten. Not anymore.
From the chart shown below, these are historical ripeness levels (oechsle) and acidity of Riesling grapes grown within Weingut Dr. Pauly-Bergweiler's parcel of the famous Bernkasteler alte Badstube am Doctorberg vineyard located in the picturesque village of Bernkastel-Kues. Statistics date back to the great vintage of 1971 using approximately the same day of the year, September 29th. It appears evident that on average, oechsle levels have risen by 10 degrees since 1971 with grape acidity remaining constant. The net benefit of global warming in cool wine regions like the Mosel is a wine with more power and concentration, while maintaining the same amount of natural acidity. These are all the components necessary to produce fine, harmonious wines, and now in the Mosel's case, year in and year out.
Step by step the Prädikat Wine Estates are coming closer to realizing the self-defined goals set forth at their general meeting in 2006. It was agreed that the resolutions passed then – a breakthrough in establishing more clarity with regard to the nomenclature to designate wines in the top category – would be implemented in all regions no later than 2015. According to VDP president Steffen Christmann: “Year for year we’re seeing progress. It makes one proud and happy to see how our members are going about implementing our common vision. Within just three years, many aspects of the resolutions passed in 2006 are already in place. Our classification is comparable with the process of fermentation – with time, grape must clarifies itself more and more, and one watches over it with great hope that it will become an outstanding wine.”
Nomenclature introduced in 2006
ERSTE LAGE
 is the uniform umbrella term that designates all wines of the top category in all regions. The logo stands for “origin from one of the finest vineyards in Germany.” If the wines are dry in style, they are referred to as Grosse Gewächse (great growths), symbolized on labels by the initials GG.
If the wines have a natural fruity sweetness, they are denoted by the traditional Prädikats, e.g. Kabinett, Spätlese, Auslese, etc.
Regardless of style, the Prädikat Wine Estates guarantee that all wines that are designated ERSTE LAGE are produced according to the same strict, terroir-oriented criteria.
>>> Since its conception in 2006, this system of nomenclature – ERSTE LAGE
– has been implemented nationwide by all VDP members. Use of vineyard names
ERSTE LAGE
wines bear the name of an individual vineyard site that has met VDP classification criteria. If a vineyard name is used for ERSTE LAGE wines, it can only be used for ERSTE LAGE wines. This was an objective set in 2006. It has already been implemented in the Pfalz for quite some time. As of vintage 2008, VDP members in the Nahe and Rheinhessen regions have imposed even stricter regulations governing the use of vineyard names. The Prädikat Wine Estates are confident that the pioneering efforts of these three regions will be followed by other regions – intial efforts can already be seen. >>> After the Pfalz, the Nahe and Rheinhessen regions (as of vintage 2008) have imposed even stricter regulations governing the use of vineyard names. Other regions are working on similar measures.
Marketing
Dry ERSTE LAGE
wines, i.e. all Grosse Gewächse (GG), receive at least one year of aging before being released. Dry white ERSTE LAGE
wines can be released on the first of September the year after the harvest. Dry red ERSTE LAGE
wines can be released on the first of September two years after the harvest. ERSTE LAGE
wines with a natural fruity sweetness, i.e. denoted by the traditional Prädikats, can be released on the first of May the year after the harvest, regardless of color. The newest ERSTE LAGE
releases, dry white/dry red and wines with natural fruity sweetness, will make their debut at the VDP Weinbörse in Mainz on 26 and 27 April 2009. >>> As of vintage 2008, the marketing regulations outlined above have been implemented by VDP members nationwide.
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