Tom - can you say more about how 2020 is outside the normal pattern?
As Robert shared in the link, von der Fels is 22 Euros in Germany, which is currently $26. As I wrote recently in another thread, I find riesling pricing in American to generally correspond to a 50% to 60% increase of the German pricing (Given an exchange currently of 1.20 dollars to euro.) Of course, every importer prices differently, but I would expect von der Fels to retail at $40-43 or so, if it is being priced the way other German rieslings for 22 Euros are priced. If it ends up going for $50 then that is clearly a function of the aura surrounding it or expected supply/demand in the U.S. but not in Gemrnay.
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My source for 2019 was $43, but the wine is handled well with proper storage.
Ah…the predictable shift of the wineberserkers hype machine from Hofgut Falkenstein to $50 von der fels to nothing at all. Germany’s moment in the sun fades as quickly as it arrived. Kosta Browne waits on the horizon. Hopefully the Mosel fine wine guys will find another 98 in there soon and everyone can jump back in.
Good evening- I have not tried any 2020s yet and was just addressing the actual auction offerings themselves. Von Schubert has had 1-2 Auslesen at auction every vintage since he returned to the VDP except for, I think, the first year he was back- the 2015 vintage. And none this year. Egon Muller offering two Spatlesen. Neither of them is a guarantee every year- and I cannot recall the last time there were two. And the big surprise is Willi Schaefer offering a Kabinett. I have been buying Schaefer Auction wines since the 1998 vintage, and I do not recall him ever offering a Kabinett for the Auction. And MFW said nothing about there being a Spatlese or an Auslese from Schaefer.
It does not necessarily mean anything about the quality of the offerings themselves, and I plan to buy all of my usual stuff (plus the AJ Adam debut wines- so excited to see them coming to Auction now!)- but it was just one of those geeky details I noticed.
There have been a few threads over time complaining about the dearth of real German Kabinetts. Is this vintage the return of the Kabinett? How does it compare in this regard to say 2008, which was an excellent vintage for Kabinetts IMHO.
Constantin Richter’s thoughts on the '20s, cut and paste from MFW:
““This is firmly a Kabinett vintage! The growing conditions were hot and warm, and we saw some water stress in July, as so often now. A bit of rain in August helped us through the summer. But the harvest season made for a complete contrast as sugar levels hardly bulged from September 20 until the end of our harvest around October 20. We started our harvest on September 13 with Kabinett but then decided to stop when the rain started to fall at the end of the month. We brought in our Spätlese fruit then after the rain. Little botrytis developed and we only made two Auslese. We did leave out some grapes for an Eiswein, but the result was not to our satisfaction, so we simply discarded them. Overall, the vintage is really split into three: before the rain, during the rain, and after the rain. In this respect, it reminds us
of 1982, where something similar happened. Overall, the result is really great: 2020 is a classic Mosel vintage driven by not overpowerful Oechsle degrees. In many aspects, it reminds me of 2004 and 2008 although comparisons become really hard to make nowadays.””
My offer will be in two weeks or so.
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I agree that the offerings are different than the typical. I can’t recall seeing a Zilliken kabi at auction. Willi Schaefer is bringing a kabi and a spatlese to auction but no auslese. I understand that this is the first time he is bringing a kabi to auction. I wonder how many bottles there will be. I’m sure it will be a exciting.
I don’t think is particularly unusual for Egon to bring spat from both EM and Le Gallais in a given vintage. He definitely did that in 2015 with the auction for the '14s.
Schloss Lieser is bringing kabi, spatlese (doctor) and also a wehlener GK auslese if that is your thing.
I don’t know how much “real German kabinett” nowadays is about the vintage versus needed work in the vineyard, cellars and early grape pickings. Naturally some vintages are easier for classic prädikat wines but there are also very skilled winemakers/growers whose manage to produce true kabis despite the vintage conditions and there are some high profile producers who fail constantly (for my own preferences). But sure 2020 is very good vintage for producers with good touch for early picking dates. When grapes has been picked early enough with high but mature acidity the result can be outstanding with low alcohol, light body, high acidity and still perfect ripeness. One week can separate very good and sloppy kabinetts in same vineyard so check the specs before buying. I have seen some prime parcel kabis with as low as 5.x g of acidity while some Saar wines are clocking almost 12g of acidity so the variation really is huge!
Is it really that predictable for these wineberserkers Riesling dudes? I just ordered a six-pack of Von Der Fels 2020 on the basis of this remark. 
. I am stupid: I usually just order GGs from Forst.
Constantin Richter told me, when pressed for favorites of the vintage for him personally, that he adores his '20 Elisenberger Kabinett, one of the most classical that he has experienced at the estate. When I asked him which vintage would relatively approximate the character of the '20 Elisenberger Kabi, he said 2008…fwiw.
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Not from me. I have Falkenstein back to the 80s and several hundred in my cellar and Keller Von der Fels back to 2002!
And I think I have one bottle of Kosta Brown 4 barrel that was gifted to me.
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Was Constantin in full control of the winery in 2008? Or was his father still in charge?
Some of us are always in the sun. 
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With price increases I still see most German Riesling as great buys. But Richter Kabinetts at $20 … amazing.
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'15 was his first vintage fully at the helm, I believe.
I know myself a bit by now and am prone to be attracted by hypes. That has led to quite a few wine purchases that in hindsight were a waste of money. Not necessarily because the wines were bad, rather that they weren’t exactly my taste.
Had a bit of a wake up moment though with the latest MFW. I absolutely loved the Loewen Laurentiuslay Alte Reben recently and was excited to see how MFW reviewed it.
It got pretty much the lowest score in the entire publication…
Which got me thinking that maybe I shouldn’t attach too much value to the opinions of others, as I still really like this particular wine. In the end, it’s just that: opinions
I’m equally sure this realization will be short lived as there is something addictive about the hunt for special wines, which I’m sure many will recognize 
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I just received the auction wine lists today. This will be my first time participating in the auctions and I’m interested to get any thoughts on the offers. I’m going to be focusing primarily on the dry wines, but may dip in for a few TBAs and Auslese GKs from producers I like.
Looks like Gunderloch is doing their first vintage of GG from Fenchelberg.
I really wish there were more GGs auctioned in the Mosel.
I have been bidding at the auctions (from afar absentee- I do not attend) for many years. Historically the wines were slowly going up in price each year- with dips for less heralded vintages- but in the past few years aside from the 2015 to 2016 transition, prices have generally gone up each year and with increasing strength.
So my advice for anything you really want is to take 2019 pricing and add at least 20% to be safe. To give you an extreme example- my all-in cost for 2019 Willi Schaefer Spatlese was about $165 USD (that is with the commissions but not including VAT which is not charged on bottles sent to the US), and my all-in cost for the 2018 was $85. Again that is an extreme example, but given that historically prices only moved a few percentage points a year, the recent results point to a dramatic growth in public interest. The auctions will be shown live on the internet again this year, and combined with the current wine spending spree at auctions in general- I am expecting 2020 will generally be more expensive than 2019, and in some cases potentially by quite a bit.
For the BA/TBA selections, it is difficult to say since the ones being offered are seldom auctioned (and von Schubert just came back to the VDP in 2015)- but based on the rumblings I am hearing, I am planning to bid in the $1,000s per half for the von Schubert TBA. That 350 Euro opening bid is just that- in real life the most in-demand wines will sell for many times their opening price. The others might not be so high because of the quantity, but anytime you are at the BA/Eiswein/TBA level that is where the prices can go incredibly high.
That said- there are some real bargains to be had most vintages. Clemens-Busch Marienberg Kabinett is lovely wine and goes for 20-22 Euro a bottle. Von Schubert’s Kabinett is around 40 Euro. Both real steals. As with any auction sometimes it is fame and investment perception that drive a price- not just quality. Also have a look at the 2002 Kerpen Spatlese* in the Bernkasteler auction. He makes really good wines little known in the US- and at auction you can get mature examples like this 2002 for well under $50USD all-in.
Also, you can do pyramid bidding if you want to be sure you get something but only want to buy several bottles at a low price. For example, let’s say based on history that you think wine X is going to sell for 70-100 Euros per bottle. You really want at least one at any price, but do not want to spend more than 250 Euros total.
So you can do a pyramid like the following,
1 bottle at 150 Euros
2 bottles at 125 Euros
3 bottles at 80 Euros
If the hammer price is 126-150 Euros, you will get 1 bottle at that hammer price.
If the hammer price is 81-125 Euros, you will get 2 bottles at that hammer price.
If the hammer price is 80 Euros or less, you will get 3 bottles at that hammer price.
As you make your bids, historical data is your best friend. Here is a link to one of the broker websites which has PDFs of the selling prices for the past few years,
Hope this helps and good luck! Feel free to PM me if I can assist further.
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How do you guys participate in the auctions from the USA?