2025 German Wine Harvest and Vintage

Here’s hoping for good acidity levels! :crossed_fingers::crossed_fingers:

How are things looking in the Mosel and Nahe @Lars_Carlberg , @Robert_Panzer , @Robert_Dentice , others?

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From one buddy in Mosel (last week):

Everything is going very fast as expected, we probably start around the 18th with Riesling and sometime next week with sparkling. So far so good… Very high potential alcohol already but also good acidity, luckily due to early flowering everything is already physiologically ripe so it’s no problem to start a bit earlier than usual.

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Yields are rather high. I can’t speak for the Mosel, but we started the harvest at Falkenstein yesterday. We picked a parcel of old Riesling vines next to Mutter Anna. The acidity level was good. Today, we harvested a parcel of young Spätburgunder vines. The harvest will resume in a week.

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I figured you were in the vineyards, thanks for checking in.

Great to hear that the harvest is starting good and abundant!

Please report back with a summation of the harvest once you regain a little time and energy, and tidbits you may gather from other areas and estates.

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Johannes decided to pick that particular parcel of Riesling, nicknamed Zimmer, on short notice. He was concerned that any rain this week would make the grapes more susceptible to rot. The same goes for the parcel of Spätburgunder that we planted just below the place-name Im Zuckerberg a few years ago. The must weight for the Riesling measured just a shade below 80 degrees Oechsle with very good acidity after being pressed.

The main harvest will begin in mid-September. It looks very promising.

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A quick update on the harvest, which I wrote about seven days ago. We decided to start picking on Friday instead of today. That was a good idea, because it’s raining this morning, and we have had a lot of rain in the last few days and weeks, but it rained mostly at night or in the very early morning. We picked a prime parcel in Euchariusberg, nicknamed Klaus, on Friday. The grapes had no botrytis, and the must weight was already quite ripe. Fortunately, it has stayed relatively cool with all the rain. But the grapes will need to be picked over the next couple of weeks.

Many growers have yet to start picking, because their grapes are not ripe due to higher yields, or they are waiting longer to begin the harvest for whatever reasons. The co-op hasn’t even opened yet. Some producers are machine-harvesting, even if they are hand-harvesting a part of their production.

I heard that the Pfalz had a small crop and short harvest this year because of all the rain and rot.

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Significantly less in some regions, but actually good in the Mosel.

It is early and I only tasted 25s with two top growers in the Mosel. With those caveats Mosel growers are extremely happy with both the quantity (up from 2024) and the quality of 2025. Most growers I talked to are comparing 2025 to 2015. I myself suggested 2015 while tasting with Julian Haart who has produced a mind-blowing, stunning collection. If the wines are as good in bottle as they are now this is going to be a vintage to go deeper on the entry level cuvees. Julian’s estate wine was fantastic.

The dry wines have depth and structure and are a bit riper than 2024 but still have great acidity.

There are also some interesting sweet wines that were picked early.

I think this vintage is going to have something for everyone.

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Thank you Robert for the report!
Speaking of Julian Haart, how does his Wintricher Cuvées compare to Piesporter Cuvées? Are there pronounced tropical notes in Goldtröpfchen?

So much to look forward to in the 2025 vintage!

Tropical suggests to me overripe or an unbalanced wine. I get much more balance, acidity, apple, minerality etc. in his Piesporter Cuvées. The entry level is really outstanding in 2025.

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Good news and glad to hear it.

FWIW I am still finding 2024 to be quite outstanding as I start to dive in. Is the thinking that 2025 could be better overall? If so, from what stylistic standpoints?

2025 is definitely better in the Mosel across the board from dry to sweet. I think 2024 was particularly good for Kabinett. Also higher yields in 2025. Again this is Mosel specific.

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