Nahe, Pfalz & Mittelrhein–Of Wheat, Chaff and Thrill

BY ANNE KREBIEHL MW | SEPTEMBER 03, 2024

In 2023, these three disparate regions had two things in common: challenging weather and a turbo-charged harvest. Where 2022 had been marked by extreme dryness, 2023 had plenty of water but not necessarily at the right time. Harvest thus was a race against time – in some places against rot from swollen, split berries that started rotting while moisture allowed the rot to spread; in others, against fast advancing ripeness in grapes that had both temperature and water to ripen. Selective hand harvesting was the absolute key to quality. As I focus my visits to top producers, many of the wines I tasted were simply thrilling, but overall, 2023 is definitely a case of caveat emptor.

A true winner of the 2023 vintage - the Bopparder Hamm with its hot, steep slopes facing the Rhine.

The good 2023 wines have more fill than the 2022s, and if one attribute were to serve, it would have to be juiciness. Acidity is there, but it is rounded and ripe. Alcohol levels are moderate, but the wines brim with flavor. Furthermore, some super-selection meant that some thrilling Spätlesen and Auslesen could be harvested. Quantities were tiny, but the wines are true examples of these Prädikate at estates where these disciplines are thought-through.

It almost goes without saying that those with the most diligent canopy, soil management, agility, means and workforce to react were the winners, as were those with steep, well-draining slopes or stony, poor soils. I dread to think what happened to machine-harvested wines on richer, deeper soils, even those who had prior human passes that cut out the worst rot. Estates that do not have the means to react, to double harvest crews because they do not achieve commensurate prices for their wines were the losers. Timing the 2023 harvest was tricky. Those who machine harvested early to avoid the worst of the rot often had to chaptalize. Those who waited had some dreadful rot and may have had to acidify. Buying machine-harvested wines from 2023 is thus not advised.

Pure Rheinromantik - the famous Loreley rock on a summer evening. Sadly, the famous Rhine nymph made no appearance.

The 2023 Nahe Growing Season

A wet winter morphed into a later spring and budburst in the Nahe, a blessing as water reserves could be replenished and all danger from late spring frosts was over. From then on, things were bumpy. Martin Tesch in Langenlonsheim at the warmer end of the Nahe described: “a wet May, then six weeks of heat, but the vines still lagged in their development until early August; they did not race ahead as they did in 2022. In September, both warmth and wetness arrived, and things sped up.” Frank Schönleber, in the cooler end of the Nahe, reported the unusual change from dry to wet phases with, thankfully, dry weather during flowering but no dry stress. Karsten Peter at Gut Hermannsberg, also at the cooler end, remarked that while 2023 counted among the warm years, it did not have the “brutal” heat of 2022. He recounted “perfect conditions” at flowering, followed by a dry spell in summer and then the all-changing rain. “We had massive rains in August,” he noted, emphasizing that the steep, free-draining, stony sites are a huge advantage in this respect. “If 100 liters fall in four weeks, 50 of these just drain away,” he said. “The [negative] impact is not big, but you have great water availability.”

Canopy management was key to preventing rot. Schönleber noted disease pressure in summer and emphasized how differently Pinot varieties versus Rieslings were affected – with the Pinots taking much more of a hit. Tim Fröhlich insisted his team remain in place throughout the summer to stay on top of the all-important canopy management. At the same time, Cornelius Dönnhoff agreed that “thinning out and canopy management were key. Those who did had a good year,” he said. “I am also happy that I can refer to my father's experience, who had seen many wet Augusts. This was a relatively new experience for me because we rarely had such dramatic weather changes. In June, we thought it would be extremely dry and then wet in August, with summer weather back in September. You had to adapt your thinking, be flexible and sometimes implement 180-degree changes.” Those who did not adapt fared far worse. Dönnhoff said, "You could see vineyards that could not be harvested.”

The combination of heat and rain in September also brought new challenges to the Nahe. Gut Hermannsberg’s Karsten Peter observed that previously rarely seen forms of rot like Penicillium expansum were present in 2023. Rebecca Crusius said that in 2023, the dreaded Asian fruit fly Drosophila suzukii, usually a predator of pink- and red-skinned fruit, even attacked white grapes. Even those who had worked with exemplary exactitude had to hurry their harvest, increase their teams and work most selectively. This meant losses of 5-25% depending on site and variety. Most winemakers were finished by mid-October. Good farmers and managers among the winemakers thus presented thrilling wines, full of flavor but with beautifully moderate alcohol levels. Some harvested Kabinetts, Spätlesen and Auslesen that are downright delicious, with hair-raising acidity and exquisite purity of flavors.

Team Gut Hermannsberg mid-tasting and full of mischief - Winemaker Karsten Peter and Managing Director Achim Kirchner

Pfalz’s 2023 Growing Season

Mittelhaardt

The Mittelhaardt had a hard time in 2023. Georg Lutz, winemaker for Heinrich Spindler in Forst said: “It was a dry start to the year, with a warm spring that turned into a hot summer. Everything pointed to a year like 2018, 2020 and 2022 [all three exceptionally hot years]. But the rain began in late July and early August – and not little of it – it just continued. Rot pretty much affected the entire Mittelhaardt while sugar assimilation went down. It took us a very long time to harvest as we had so much to select.” Nicola Libelli, winemaker at Bürklin-Wolf in Wachenheim, said that 2023 had been a “challenge” and went on saying: “We had a very dry spring, then some rain came, and we were all very happy because it arrived at the right time in early and mid-July. We had one to two weeks of rain, and that was perfect. We had already sown cover crops in the vine rows to pull moisture out of the soil, but then the rain continued and continued, and some grapes ruptured and turned to rot. In early September, it got drier and warmer, and the botrytis stopped. We harvested but had to painstakingly remove all the rotten grapes. We were a third slower than usual; it was an extreme effort.” Steffen Christmann in Gimmeldingen said that in 2023, “there was hardly a bunch of grapes where single berries did not have to be selected out.” Oskar Micheletti, responsible for sales at von Winning in Deidesheim said “we had rain, but always in inconvenient moments, especially in the second half of August where grapes were not quite ripe yet, but already softening” which caused some swelling and splitting, creating perfect entry points for rot. It was worse in deeper soils, further from the Haardt mountains in Duttweiler. Rainer Bergdolt at Bergdolt-Kloster Lamprecht reported losses of up to 80% of fruit in the worst-affected parcels. Earlier-ripening parcels got away with yield losses of 5%. Both Pinot Blanc and Chardonnay were hardly affected, but Pinot Noir was “a different matter,” Bergdolt said, emphasizing that “all the wines were made without botrytis.” Several winemakers noted that the harvest had been “exhausting.”

The quality in the Mitttelhaardt is mixed, with some wines a bit hollow and some with more marked differences between entry-level and top wines, while others are truly stunning. One of the Mittelhaardt’s best, Nicola Libelli, said: “There is a lot of extract in 2023 with moderate alcohol.” This is down to the amount of rain that helped the vines deposit minerals in the grapes. But Libelli also noted that in terms of varieties, Riesling was the winner: “The difference between 2021, 2022 and 2023 showed what a great performer Riesling really is. It is less susceptible to oidium [powdery mildew], has great pH, good acidity, and sugars that do not climb that high. The more these conditions [of very changeable and challenging years] persist, the more I believe in Riesling – but you do have to invest in your soils.”

Paternal pride: Martin Tesch with his son Johannes in one of the vineyards Johannes planted to higher canopies and density.

Nordpfalz

In the Nordpfalz, Andi Rings of Weingut Rings in Freinsheim reported that 2023 presented them with a warm, dry July with cooler weather and rain in the first two weeks of August. The second half of August again brought extreme heat, switching from 20°C one day to 37°C the next. “We struggled with sunburn,” he noted, “especially in the Pinot varieties.” The combination of much rain in early August followed by heat made “some grapes burst, causing danger of rot.” The grapes that did not burst raced ahead with ripeness. “We doubled our harvest team,” said Rings, “to sort out sunburnt or burst berries. It took longer, and we needed more people.” Selecting out all damage meant 20-30% yield loss. Volker Knipser in Laumersheim was all understatement when he encapsulated 2023 when he said: “There was some dryness, moisture was sufficient, and we started relatively early with the harvest, working swiftly as we worried about Drosophila suzukii. We had to select quite a bit.” They started picking Pinot Noir on 20 August, “as early as ever, so we were done before the rain [with the vulnerable Pinot varieties] and finished picking at the end of September.” Dominik Sona at Koehler-Ruprecht in Kallstadt remembered how warm it was during harvest, showed me a video of densely whirring fruit flies swarming around ripe grapes and said, “I could not leave fruit for as long as I wanted. We had to harvest; I could not play it as I usually do; this cost me nerves. Moisture and heat were troublesome. What usually happens over six weeks had to happen within three.” Selecting out rot meant 30% less yield than his long-term average. Philipp Kuhn, also in Laumersheim, took a different path, noting that 2023 suited him: “Those who did all the homework and were prepared to risk a little were rewarded. It was not easy, but this is why we are here. We went for risk, we waited and harvested later, the weather rewarded us, we could harvest what we needed –and single, rotten berries were cut out.” He says it was the “longest” harvest ever, starting on 4 September and ending on 20 October.

Philipp Kuhn tasting one of his creations.

Südpfalz

In the Südpfalz, the August rain was bad news for early-ripening varieties like Pinot but a manna from heaven for late-ripening Riesling. Valentin Rebholz of Ökonomierat Rebholz in Siebeldingen said: “The summer had been dry, and from late July throughout August, we had rain, so all the early-ripening varieties got more water than they actually needed, and ripening sped up. In late August, we started pre-harvesting all our sites, and while we usually start early for Sekt base, we immediately increased the harvest team to 60 people. We continued with canopy management to ensure the Riesling sites were in optimal form. This way, we created space to give us the needed time.” For him, “2023 was definitely a Riesling vintage as the wines have both concentration and extract. It was a different story for more Pinot-focused estates. Stephanie Fuller at Weingut Friedrich Becker in Schweigen-Rechtenbach said: “2023 presented us with a protracted and laborious harvest,” adding that there even were two hectares of vineyards that they did not harvest at all due to rot because they focused on the most stringent selection in their top sites. As these wines are released later, there is no immediate verdict. The 2023 Rieslings tasted are indeed a triumph; the site was decisive, and the Grosse Lagen absolutely proved their exalted status in this difficult year.

The Knipser Triumvirate - Werner, Stefan and Volker Knipser.

The Mittelrhein 2023 Growing Season

While 2023 was no picnic for the Mittelrhein either, with heat and rain, these steep, stony slopes drained the water away, and Riesling thrived without any water stress. Cecilia Jost of Weingut Toni Jost in Bacharach remarked that rain started in July. It was her earliest harvest finish ever on 17 October. In the much warmer vineyards of the Bopparder Hamm, Johannes Müller of Weingut Matthias Müller in Spay recounted the unusual combination of rain and extreme heat on the steep vineyards. “It was relatively clear that we would have to hurry,” he noted, remembering the “extreme photosynthesis” enabled by temperature and water availability. Harvest started on 6 September with Pinot Noir, followed by Grau- and Weissburgunder. The first week of October provided “total heat,” which reduced juice in the berries while rot also had to be sorted out–altogether, this meant 30% less yield. Müller noted a crunch point in the middle of harvest: “Ripeness turned to overripeness, and everything was go, go, go. But we could harvest raisined grapes.” Riesling presented them with both passerillage and noble botrytis. Thermics from the river meant that grapes dried, sometimes whole bunches were overripe with some raisined grapes–presenting almost more passerillage than botrytis. What is really impressive and critical, though, is not the sweetness but the exquisite acidity of the fruit–at truly thrilling levels. Müller also noted the “flavor intensity” of 2023. His Spätlese, Auslese, BA and TBA are pure thrills.

Caroline Diel with her Labrador Kabi and her colleague Viszla.

2023 – A Vintage of Our Time

What really struck me in tasting the 2023 Rieslings is how much flavor and expression they cram into an often small footprint–I am referring to their moderate alcohol levels. Those looking for sheer power will be disappointed in 2023. All is here: freshness, ripeness, fill, just not high alcohol. None of the winemakers I visited had the feeling they needed to chaptalize, that it was perfectly fine to present GGs with 12 or 12.5% of alcohol. Nobody felt they had to shoehorn their wines into anything they were not. On the contrary, they were happy with these graceful alcoholic analytics. This is a new paradigm. Franz Wehrheim of Weingut Dr Wehrheim in Birkweiler said, “Today it is ok to harvest at 91° rather than 95° Oechlse,” i.e., potential alcohol of 12.09% and 12.85%. This would not have been the case ten years ago and shows two things. First, the changing fashions of the wine world that now prizes lighter wines even seeks them out. Second is the reassessment of what German wine is and should be by its winemakers. In a changing world, Germany is well-placed to produce outstanding and unique wines. That is true for formerly marginal areas like the Nahe that are at the acme of thrill and warmer regions like the Pfalz. Those winemakers ahead of the curve in viticulture face as many tough economic and agricultural challenges as everybody else, but they prove that Germany has a great future as a winegrowing country, come rain or shine.

I tasted the wines in this report during producer visits in the region in late June and early July 2024.

© 2024, Vinous. No portion of this article may be copied, shared or re-distributed without prior consent from Vinous. Doing so is not only a violation of our copyright, but also threatens the survival of independent wine criticism.

You Might Also Enjoy

Evoe! German and Austrian Sekt Report, Anne Krebiehl MW, March 2024

2022 Rheingau, Pfalz and Mittelrhein: Before, During and After the Rain, Anne Krebiehl MW, December 2023

2022 Mosel-Saar-Ruwer: Old Vines and Steep Challenges, Anne Krebiehl MW, October 2023

2022 Rheinhessen & Nahe: Rain in the Nick of Time, Anne Krebiehl MW, September 2023