Good afternoon everyone,
With such widespread, and growing, interest in the German auctions, it is time for the Bernkasteler to have its own thread as promised yesterday. There are some great wines here and have always been.
My usual statistical analysis by producer as done with the Mosel and Nahe is not so useful in this instance for a couple of reasons. First, not every member of the Ring brings wine every year. Second, for those who do- the selections can vary greatly each year- even across vintages. And this, to me, is one very great feature of the Bernkasteler Auctions that you do not find at the Mosel or Nahe- namely, every year there are several maturing or fully mature wines at varying Pradikat levels and prices. So if you are fairly new to German wine, this can be a terrific way to buy some mature wines at affordable prices plus stock up on some wines that are a little closer to being ready than the current vintage.
In 2021, featuring the 2020 vintage, there were a total of 39 auction lots. This year, there are 50 auction lots, not including lots 7-9 which were not offered. Much of that increase can be attributed to the recent invitation to several estates to join the Bernkastler Ring. This is a great place to find and try the wines of new talent- and four such winemakers offered wines at the Bernkasteler Auction for the first time this year - Loersch, Markus Fries, Axel Pauly and Wurtzberg.
I won’t bother with all the screenshots since @Rodrigo_B has kindly granted permission for me to post his final results which will appear in a comment following this first thread.
Of the 50 auction lots offered this year, 14 of them were substantially identical to lots from last year. By substantially identical I mean, aside from the vintage being different by a year obviously, that in one case a bottling might be a GK versus not a GK or have one * versus **. For absolutely precise matches- there would have been far fewer comparatives to report on (and to clarify- the distinction between white and gold capsule for Molitor wines was strictly observed as that has a tremendous impact on value.)
For Markus Molitor, who offered 3 lots, results were down 5% on each of his 3 offerings, two Auslesen and a Spatlese, but still very strong from a price perspective and the most expensive wines within their respective Pradikats.
For the 14 lots that are comparable to lots from prior year, overall the hammer prices were down by 2% on average, with most of the losses attributable to the Auslese category. The Kabinett (of which there were far more this year than last year) and Spatlese comparables were generally up - by 25% for Erben von Beulwitz’s 2021 Kaseler Nies’chen Kabinett.
And so while the dollars and percentages were far less dramatic, the performance by Pradikat generally followed the pattern of the Mosel auctions. Additionally, I would note that online bidding has now been put in place (not sure how long ago- but it is here now.)
But that is where the similarties end. Watching the sale yesterday was very much like watching the Mosel auction last year and prior- with everything in German and without pressure to speed things along. It is also notable that the offerings themselves are little changed from the past. There has been no surge in big bottles- indeed nothing larger than a magnum was offered, and those lots were few in number. And the lovely, seemlingly random mix remains rather than a set list of wines that is largely repeated year in and year out (and I do not imply anything positive or negative about either approach.)
Just as the world has descended upon the Mosel and Nahe Auctions – so surely will the Bernkasteler Ring also get a little more attention in the near future. And I personally welcome that to whatever degree the winemakers wish it to be so.
Results to follow in the next post- and for anyone who was there or made purchases, any feedback you have on the tastings or what you bid on and why is most welcome!