Mosel for Dummies

WINE TALK
21

So, Ray is going to own both DRC and Prum?

22

Howard,

I cannot understand how you can call 2001 soft yet have praise for 2005, which I find flabby across the board. Different tastes I guess.

23

You’re welcome, Ray. I really liked Eric Asimov’s article about you and your wines. I came across it via Twitter and even retweeted his link when it was published. Please feel free to contact me. My details are on my website.

24

John: You’ve made some very good points.

  1. By and large, that’s true. The Saar and Ruwer are cooler, despite being further south, but higher up, hence the name Lower Mosel. Depending on the vintage and sites, some Middle and even Lower Mosel vineyards can have wines with more marked acidity than from the Ruwer or Saar.

  2. Yes, there’s no real divide on the Mosel between traditional and modern, like in Barolo, for example. Yet, a lot depends on how you define “traditional.” One issue that often gets overblown is the use of ambient versus cultured yeasts. I, however, tend to favor the former, that is spontaneous fermentation (often termed “sponti”). (Of course, each wine-maker defines this differently.) It’s much discussed here among the cognoscenti. Another issue is certain producers have labs where they not only get their analysis, but also advice on fermenting their wines. This can result in some mainstream, sleek wines that often have kitsch aromas and flavors (from specific laboratory-cultured yeasts). Moreover, these wine-makers add all sorts of enzymes, protein stabilizers, and clarifying agents. As for Van Volxem, their wines tend not to be legally dry (i.e., under 9 g/l RS), more off-dry. Roman and his cellarmaster have been tweaking the style a little over the last few vintages, too. There are a number of producers that work somewhat similarly, such as Heymann-Löwenstein and Roman’s ex-roommate and good friend Nik Weis at St. Urbans-Hof. Markus Molitor, one of the top producers in the region, is a mentor to Van Volxem.

  3. I wish it were close to 100% Riesling on the Mosel.

25

Lars,

You don’t like Regent? [wink.gif]

26

Thanks for the shout-out, Salilb. That’s kind of you.

Yes, Jean Fisch and David Rayer’s Mosel Fine Wines is another good source for info.

You listed a number of producers that print “Alte Reben” on their labels. Günther Steinmetz does this for a couple of wines, too. Yet, as you and others have pointed out already, there are so many wines from the Mosel from old, ungrafted vines. Besides the Douro Valley, few regions have so many old vines. Sadly, many of these are being grubbed up, because of vineyard remodeling and much worse from grape-growers having a lack of perspective. I’d like to refer the readers to an article Dan Melia of Mosel Wine Merchant wrote in The Art of Eating, issue no. 84 about the latter: http://www.artofeating.com/back.htm

I’d also like to note that certain growers, not all the famous names, take particular pains to save old vines and work the most difficult spots. Clemens Busch, Andreas Adam, Florian Lauer, and Ulli Stein are a few who do.

With regard to Fuder, more and more producers are moving to stainless-steel tanks. It’s much easier to control temperatures and clean. For example, J.J. Prüm uses steel, not wood for fermenting and aging their wines. (No, I wasn’t in the cellar, but I do know Katharina and talked with her more than once about it.) Likewise, Karthäuserhof doesn’t use the traditional 1,000-liter casks since the eighties. Many producers have either the one or the other or both (i.e., a mix of steel tanks and wooden casks). It just depends. Wines raised in old casks tend to have a certain character.

The topic of malolactic fermentation is a tricky one. There are a number of dry to off-dry wines that go through MLF (either full or partial), because in certain vintages the ripeness levels and pH values are relatively high and if the wine-maker does long spontaneous fermentations on the lees (without early sulfuring) the wines can go into this secondary fermentation. It’s not always detectable, even to the most trained tasters. Some, less serious producers make obvious low-acid (malo) Rieslings for drinkers sensitive to high acidity, but this is then an artificial means of softening the wines.

I only tasted once at Bert Simon and didn’t particularly like the wines, but the new owner, now called Dr. Siemens, has been making some impressive Saar wines from this estate possessing first-class, steep (monopole) sites.

27

David: You already know most of this. But for the other readers – and I’m sorry to constantly refer to MWM’s glossary – the term Einzellage succinctly explains what happened with the sites (and not restricted to just the famous names) quite well: http://moselwinemerchant.com/glossary.html

As for the color of the bottle, there was a time, at least among some producers, when the Mosel, Saar, and Ruwer had (or were supposed to have) different colored bottles. I don’t recall the specifics anymore. Traditionally, Mosel flutes were not as green as some of today’s bottles. There are and were different shades of green, green-blue, and green-brown, even reddish bottles. Anyway, green tends to be the preferred color, especially on the Saar, though a tint of blue makes them look even better.

In regard to your list of top sites, I’ve added some of my own commentary.

Scharzhofberg (sometimes named Scharzhofberger) is indeed special, and Egon Müller owns some of the best parts with old vines. But you forgot Van Volxem, Vereinigte Hospitien, and Bischöfliche Weingüter (Hohe Domkirche in this instance). The latter owns 6 hectares.

Wehlener Sonnenuhr is one of the grandest sites on the Middle Mosel, if not the entire Mosel region. Yet, unlike Scharzhofberger, which expanded only slightly with the addition of the original Scharzberg, Sonnenuhr consists of many former sites. At the moment, the vineyard is going through Flurbereinigung (for the others, see glossary), so it’s difficult to know if J.J. Prüm has now the best sections or the oldest vines. I was up in the Sonnenuhr with Gerd Studert from Studert-Prüm a few months ago. He showed me the different sections, including naming some of the old sites, along with the swaps that took place among growers in order for them to work larger, more efficient pieces of land. In other words, a J.J. Prüm had to give up certain plots here and there. Katharina confirmed this. Nonetheless, they certainly retained some of their choice parcels of old vines.

Maximin Grünhäuser Abtsberg and Herrenberg are super vineyards. I tend to like the former more. It’s the large knoll with the stony blue-gray slate. The wines tend to be more austere than the red-slate Herrenberg. Even the more east-facing Bruderberg makes good wines. I love the von Schubert’s wines, especially their dry and off-dry bottlings. Yet, Karthäuserhofberg and Kaseler Nies’chen are equally great sites on the Ruwer.

Erdener Prälat was historically a brand. Yet, Jean Fisch knows more about it and did a wonderful write-up (for free!) in Mosel Fine Wines, as you know.

Piesporter Goldtröpfchen is an excellent, large site that has good water reserves, hence yields. Grafenberg, Schubertslay, Domherr, Falkenberg, and Kreuzwingert are also part of this famous hillside. Before the 1971 Wine Law, there were many more site names, as like most of today’s top vineyards. Yet, in the old days, the wines usually just sold under the village name, in this case Piesporter (once synonymous for Mosel). It was understood that the wines came from this magnificently steep slope, for there were no flatland vineyards across the river or a Grosslage named Michelsberg back then. It should be noted that Goldtröpfchen has few old vines, because of the remodeling of the slope. Reinhold Haart is without question one of the best producers. I like Theo Haart. His friend Heinz Welter at Später-Veit is also making impressive Rieslings from this commune. I’ve liked what Julian Haart and Andreas Adam have bottled so far under the A.J. Adam label. Their plot in Laychen is amazingly steep with old vines. Like Ulli Stein, Clemens Busch and Florian Lauer, they’re not afraid to rescue these hard-to-work patches of old vines.

I prefer Dornfelder to Regent. Seriously, the more Riesling on the Mosel the better. Although I’m also for Pinot Noir and Pinot Blanc as traditional varieties of the region.

28

How about these for the top MSR sites. Not necessarily the top wines, but the top sites.

Scharzhofberger
Maximin Grunhauser Abtsberg
Piesporter Goldtrpfchen
Brauneberger Juffer Sonnenuhr
Bernkastler Doktor
Wehlener Sonnenuhr
Zeltinger Sonnenuhr
Erdener Pralat
Urziger Wurzgarten

I know I left off a lot of great sites (these could be second growths). Come and criticize.

29

I’d add the Graachers and drop Urzinger and Zeltinger. But wouldnt fight you for it.

30

Hi Ray,

I don’t want to detract from this thread on the beautiful Mosel, which I love dearly, but I feel it is my duty to say that while the Pfalz can’t perhaps compete with the soaring scenery of the Mosel, it has its own charms to offer and if you ever make it up this way and are interested (or get tired of Riesling on Slate [wow.gif] ) I’d be happy to show you another interpretation of Riesling (and a multitude of other varieties.)

Cheers,
Bill

31

I’d throw in the Winningen Uhlen (Lower Mosel) and the Kanzem Altenberg (Saar) as some very fine and often overlooked sites.
And what about the Bremmer Calmont? Breathtaking to behold if the wines aren’t exactly so.

Cheers,
Bill

32

Howard: It’s hard to argue with your picks – all great sites. Yet, there are so many more. I don’t believe it’s possible to classify the vineyards of the Mosel, as some try to do. It depends so much on the grower, the vintage, and the taster. I’ve sifted through countless old auction price lists and books with rankings, too. Some sites, less well-known today, were famous back then. Likewise, many that have acclaim now were less esteemed a hundred years ago. Certain growers have made their respective sites popular, because of the quality of the wines they produce. Other potentially good sites either get ignored or have no producer that brings out its potential. The boundaries of today’s sites are different, as well. You also have to factor in climate change, age of the vines, and so on.

33

I can only second Bill’s note above, even though I’m a Moselaner. The Pfalz, especially the Mittelhaardt, is gorgeous. I really only know the Mittelhaardt having made several visits there to taste at the top domaines over the last few years. The region is idyllic and quite reminiscent of Burgundy and, of course, Alsace. They all three have east-facing côtes with quaint villages at the foot and beautiful forests and hill country above. All three regions are much more prosperous than the Mosel with major cities nearby. Also, many of the wineries in the Pfalz have their own restaurants with delicious regional food.

34

Thank you Lars. I agree with your points, but the fact that say Ray makes a better premier cru Burgundy from MSD or GC than some other producer does from a Grand Cru vineyard does not mean the terroir of the premier crus is better than the terroir of the grand cru vineyard. Certainly, terroir is not the only important factor. But, I tried to pick vineyards where preminent producers are making their best wines. For example, I think Selbach’s best wines are from Zeltinger Sonnenuhr, not Zeltinger Schlossberg, etc.

As for Graach, I thought about putting in one of its two vineyards, but could not put them up with the best of sites even though guys like Prum, Schaeffer and Selbach make great wines from these sites.

35

My wine cellar has wines in it from regions in Germany other than the MSR, but Ray asked about MSR and I was trying to be responsive to his questions. It would be interesting to have another thread about the Pfalz and great producers like Muller-Catoir.

36

Ray - something I might suggest you do is to get wines from neighboring vineyard sites from the same producer/vintage and compare (much as well seem to enjoy doing with Burgundy). Get an Urziger Wurzgarten AND Erdener Treppchen Spatlese (to pick a pradikat) from Merkelbach and taste side by side. Those two sites have dramatically different soils and it shows. You can make the same comparison with the wines of J. J. Christoffel. Comparing Zeltinger Sonnenuhr and Zeltinger Schlossberg from Selbach-Oster is another instructive example.

Lars - thanks for expanding on my thoughts. I’m on a business trip and don’t have time to be quite as exhaustive as I would like in this thread. I will say though, that I intentionally did not list Vereinigte Hospitien, and Bischöfliche Weingüter for the Scharzhofberg(er), as I find that those two producers are seriously underperforming. I would not look to them for true insight into what that vineyard can give. Let’s face it - Egon Muller is way above everyone else in the Scharzhofberger.

37

Thanks for continuing the conversation everyone.

My wife and I have been speaking about going to the Mosel (and surrounding) for the last two months since we’ve been fortunate to have friends that were generous in sharing bottles over the last four years with us…many of them were mentioned in this thread.

I know Howard and Maureen are having an I told you so moment. And Berry Crawford has done a lot to influence my interest in these wines with his generosity.

I opened up a bottle I was gifted and I’m now itching like a mad man to grab another glass of something but the other bottles I have in the cave have labels that are too deteriorated to know exactly what they are.

We opened a 2008 Weingut Paulinshof
Brauneberger Kammer Riesling Auslese trocken.

So crazy to look at a label and to have ZERO idea of what is on it. French and Italian are cakewalks in comparison.

Don’t ask me what I ate with it. I wanted some Riesling and food be damned, it was going to happen.

Cheers

38

Ray – “Siena Jesline Walker née à Dijon”??

Not Gevrey Jesline or Chambolle Jesline?

If you’re not careful, she’ll grow up preferring sangiovese to pinot. :wink:

(But seriously… congratulations!)

39

Thanks, John. Believe me, I was pulling for Musigny Jesline :wink: but my wife wouldn’t let me have my way.

40

Ray, don’t forget the Trocken Rieslings. We drink probably 10:1 dry vs. sweet. Actually, the labels are pretty simple to understand, maybe even more so than Burgundy (for me, at least). The town name nearest to the vineyard (which can sometimes be across the river, or in rare cases not even that close to the vineyard), vineyard name, and a pradikat. Easy! As with Burgundy, visiting will help to clear up a lot :slight_smile:
Cheers