2025 Mosel: The Full Gamut of Expression

BY ANNE KREBIEHL MW | SEPTEMBER 17, 2026

Growers in Mosel, Saar and Ruwer reported a relatively relaxed and warm growing season in 2025 without extremes of frost, heat, drought or hail, leading to early ripeness. Many described how “picture-perfect” the grapes looked, which raised hopes for a stellar vintage. But the weather gods had other ideas. Rain from late August through September posed a challenge. With more rain forecast in late September, many started picking the ripe fruit earlier than ever before, trying to harvest as much fruit as possible before rot could set in. Sorting was absolutely key for rain-affected fruit.

The famous Doctor vineyard in Bernkastel, seen from the Kues shore.

The Vines Delivered

Clearly, however, the vines had what they needed in this warm vintage: there was no stress, and they delivered. Some growers also noted that the August rains helped with a last little push for ripeness. The results, at least for those who worked carefully and sorted well, are excellent. Ripe, juicy Rieslings brim with fruit and are contoured by ripe, integrated acid. The wines are not as electric, sleek and taut as in 2024; they simply present a riper, rounder, altogether more approachable face of Riesling. This is the case for dry and sweet wines, and everything in between. Even entry-level wines come with generous and animating fruit. Rarely have I used the attributes “supple” and “peachy” so freely in a Mosel-Saar-Ruwer report.

A Year of Stellar Spätlesen and Auslesen

Where 2024 favored razor-sharp, thrilling Kabinett wines, 2025 returns this Prädikat to its playful, charming and beguiling idiom. The combination of full fruit delineated by ripe acids clearly favored two Prädikate in 2025: Spätlese and Auslese. Often made from overripe fruit without botrytis, many Spätlesen play an accomplished and light-footed game of exquisitely pure fruit set against juicy acidity. Even Auslesen depict aromatic, nuanced fruit expressions rather than outright sweetness. In both styles, elegance is foremost. So many still have to discover that sugar in Riesling is in fact an asset, allowing for an incredibly wide spectrum of expression. In my tastings for this report, I was once again struck by just how broad this spectrum is. While such variety may be confusing for consumers, it allows for incredible potential for pleasure in many different styles.

Cloudy skies, hopefully holding rain, were a welcome sight at Egon Müller's Scharzhof.

A handful of Beerenauslesen and Trockenbeerenauslesen were selected, but only in small quantities. Often, botrytis did not dry out enough to allow for fuller concentration, but there are quite a number of Auslese Goldkapseln that have excellent potential. Both Karthäuserhof and Maximin Grünhaus in the Ruwer managed to pick Eiswein in late November.

Short Picking Windows and Moderate Alcohols

Many winemakers remarked on the very short picking windows for certain styles: there is distinctly less Kabinett, as ripeness advanced so quickly. People were wary of harvesting too early, before full ripeness, but warm temperatures and moisture pushed ripeness and rot, respectively. There is also an almost surprised relief among the growers that this fast-advancing ripeness did not translate into monster alcohols. A mere handful of dry Rieslings are above 13%, and the only two 2025 GGs I tasted with 13.5% are from the warmer Terrassenmosel.

The steep slope of the vineyards between Kesten and Lieser.

Economic Woes and Consolidation

Following last year’s shutdown of longstanding VDP-estate Weingut Dr Wagner in the Saar, VDP estate von Hövel also ceased operations in February 2026. Since 2001, the 22-hectare estate had been run by Maximilian von Kunow, who had some health worries in recent years. The death of his father, Eberhard von Kunow, in October 2025 brought family disagreements over the future of the estate to a head, and, in the current challenging economic environment, brought the history of the 1803-founded estate to an end. Their parcel in the Scharzhofberg is now farmed by Egon Müller, while other parcels, as some told me, were offered as leases free of charge. Various winemakers remarked that in both the Dr Wagner and von Hövel cases, family matters rather than economics alone prompted the demise. Many estates find it hard to operate profitably with steep slopes that are expensive to farm. The cultural and economic correction and adjustment that the entire wine world lives through is especially stark in Mosel, Saar and Ruwer. The quality and still decent quantity of the 2025 harvest offer only a short respite from economic realities. The region as a whole will have to contend with the impacts of the drought-affected 2026. The economic situation is acute, and the wines are still underpriced, both for the work that goes into them and for the unique cultural monuments they are.

I tasted most of the wines in this report during estate visits in August 2026, with a few other tastings around that date.

© 2026, Vinous. No portion of this article may be copied, shared or redistributed without prior consent from Vinous. Doing so is not only a violation of our copyright but also threatens the survival of independent wine criticism.

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