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Popping Corks: The Second Vinous Sekt Report
featured, Germany, Austria
, May 2025
The renaissance of German and Austrian Sekt continues apace. After last year’s paean to the revival of bottle-fermented Sekt in both countries, this is the second report on all things German-speaking and bottle-fermented. While the holy trinity of sparkling varieties, namely Chardonnay, Pinot Noir and Pinot Meunier, shines in both countries, we will also take a closer look at Rieslingsekt.
2023 Mosel-Saar-Ruwer: A Riesling Race Against Rain
featured, Germany: Saar, germany: Mosel, Germany: Ruwer
, Dec 2024
The slopes that drop steeply to the meandering Mosel in the Rhenish Slate Massif received their fair share of sunshine and rain in 2023. While the first half of the growing season made many fear a repeat of the drought conditions of 2022, summer rain arrived with all its concomitant factors. Initially welcomed with relief, ripening soon accelerated, threatening to split berries and attracting the wrong kind of rot. Once again, flexibility and agility were of the essence, and selection was the name of the game. Where 2022 was fine-boned, 2023 is juicy and exuberant. Lovers of Spätlese will be especially happy with the 2023 Rieslings.
Rheinhessen & Rheingau: Riesling Triumphs After Rain
featured, Germany
, Oct 2024
Rheingau and Rheinhessen produced world-class Rieslings in 2023. The wines are bursting with flavor and delineated by freshness but moderate in alcohol. An initially dry year was drenched in late summer rains, which the late-ripening Riesling weathered with aplomb. Steep, stony slopes of historic renown proved their exalted status all over again. If there is one operative attribute for this Riesling vintage, it is juiciness. In the Rheingau, off-dry and nobly sweet wines with electric acidity are an added bonus. The 2022 Pinot Noirs are some of the best ever.
2024 Pre-Auctions Report: Trier & Bad Kreuznach - Songs of the 49th Parallel
featured, Germany
, Sep 2024
Moved to a November slot, the Trier and Bad Kreuznach auctions offer a great opportunity to delve into the 2023 Riesling vintage. Across regions, the vintage clearly separated the wheat from the chaff. In Mosel, Saar and Ruwer, 2023 is the year for Kabinett and Spätlese. Bad Kreuznach offers thrills of mostly dry, hair-raising Rieslings that are alive with fruit and energy. The 2023 Riesling vintage in Germany has everything: tons of fruit, proper acidity, much dry extract at moderate alcohol levels, and – in dry white wine territory – unparalleled potential for longevity. What is not to like?
Nahe, Pfalz & Mittelrhein–Of Wheat, Chaff and Thrill
featured, Germany
, Sep 2024
In 2023, these three disparate regions had two things in common: challenging weather and a turbo-charged harvest. While 2022 had been extremely dry, 2023 had plenty of rain, but often at the wrong time. Harvest was a race against time, rot and fast-advancing ripeness. Selective hand harvesting was the absolute key to quality. Many of the wines I tasted from these top producers were simply thrilling, but overall, 2023 is definitely a case of caveat emptor. Some spectacular Spätlesen and Auslesen are a bonus – albeit in tiny quantities.
Evoe! German and Austrian Sekt Report
featured, Germany, Austria
, Mar 2024
The landscape of Austrian and German sparkling wine, or Sekt, has changed beyond recognition – at long last. What began with the heroic and often lone efforts of a handful of determined individuals in the 1970s and 1980s is finally in full fizz. It took decades of legal changes and challenges to create this new category, but even more so, it took years of cultural re-assessment to rehabilitate the historical term “Sekt”. Traditional method Sekt is now a serious, exciting and growing category in both countries. The ambition is palpable. This inaugural Sekt report covers bottle-fermented Sekts from Styria to the Weinviertel in Austria and Baden to Saxony in Germany. The revival was slow, but today, you can hear corks popping everywhere.
Cellar Favorite: 1971 Staatsweingut Eltville Rauenthaler Langenstück Riesling Spätlese
Germany, cellar favorite, Cellar Favorites
, Mar 2024
My adoration for any bottle of wine born the same year as myself is well-known. I sound like a broken record proselytizing the 1971 vintage. But then a bottle sashays along and vindicates my opinion, reconfirming that this is such a trove of outstanding bottles, arguably none more so than Germany.
2022 Rheingau, Pfalz and Mittelrhein: Before, During and After the Rain
featured, Germany
, Dec 2023
After the unprecedentedly dry summer of 2022, heavy rain finally arrived in Rheingau and Pfalz. Sometimes, rain coincided with harvest, interrupted it or prompted some producers to wait it out. It is a mixed picture in which estates with exemplary farming and logistics triumphed. Some producers were helped by privileged, water-retentive sites or ventilated altitudes that prevented rot during and after the rain. This means general statements simply don’t apply in 2022 – but the vintage has some stunners nonetheless.
Cellar Favorite: 2009 Maximin Grünhaus – von Schubert Abtsberg Riesling Auslese #93
Germany, cellar favorite, Cellar Favorites
, Nov 2023
Poured on a hot sunny evening in Beaune between a quick dip in the pool and a delicious supper, the 2009 Abstberg Riesling Auslese #93 from winemaker Carl von Schubert ranks as one of the greatest Rieslings I've encountered in the last five years.
2022 Mosel-Saar-Ruwer: Old Vines and Steep Challenges
featured, Germany: Saar, Germany, germany: Mosel, Germany: Ruwer
, Oct 2023
Despite a hot and dry summer that brought record water deficits, the “challenging” Mosel vintage of 2022 delivered elegant wines. The best estates were able to make very good and even outstanding wines marked by moderate alcohol levels and freshness. This came down to three things: the resilience of deep-rooting old Riesling vines, the ingenuity of Riesling’s ability to self-regulate its metabolism and sorting at harvest.