2001 Fritz Haag Brauneberger Juffer Riesling Auslese trocken- Germany, Mosel Saar Ruwer (1/31/2011)
Tis has a lovely bright and focused nose. with citrus-lime and seashells. This has bright acid and is wonderfully focused, but maybe too shrill, common for me in Mosel trockens. This is developing a bit of petrol with age, and lots of stoniness and depth of fruit even if the fruit seems to be made of rocks. The depth and structure frames this wine nicely. This has great cut, extract, and verve, but with that said, I think I would have preferred a touch of RS in this wine to balance out the touch of heat on the back end. I love this maker and this terrior, but this is a touch masochistic. For the rockheads and acid freaks only. As a big trocken fan, this is still a touch too dry for me, with the ETOH showing a bit. Very well done, but a bit much for me, losing some complexity and pleasure for the sake of ultimate dryness. 89 pts. (89 pts.)
Thanks for the note Todd. Sounds similar to an 01 JJ Christoffel Auslese trocken (forget the vineyard) I opened a few months ago that also came across disappointingly austere and shrill, and left me wondering why the same juice couldn’t have gone towards making more sweet Auslese.
I’ve not been convinced by MSR trockens for the most part. I’ve had a couple of very good ones from Ulli Stein, Karthauserhof and Schloss Lieser in recent vintages, but those have been more an exception than a rule for genuinely dry wines from there and my trocken dollars are still going to the Nahe or Pfalz more often than not.
I too have long been sceptical of MSR trockens, and I have also been a buyer principally of dry rieslings from the Nahe and Pfalz, and of course the Rheinhessen. Then last year I tried the 08 Fritz Haag Brauenberger Juffer Sonnenuhr GG. A complete wine, young but with great potential. You should give it a spin. I hate to describe wines in terms of what they are not, but for purposes of this thread I will say unequivocally that this is a Mosel trocken (and an 08 no less) that is NOT too austere and certainly NOT shrill. I haven’t stopped buying Donnhoff, SF or ES, or Keller, but I have to say I’ve begun to allow for the possibility that MSR producers will in the future be a part of my trocken purchases.
Agreed - I am looking for wines like the Karthauserhof trockens from time to time (and do need to get around to buying some more '09 Liesers)… though in general much of my trocken money still gets focused on Pfalz and Nahe. I’m starting to think I cannot have enough Rebholz GG in my cellar. (Now, if only I had some Koehler-Ruprechts remaining…)
David Rayer and Jean Fisch (http://www.moselfinewines.com" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;) just published a great article on the state of affairs in production of dry and off dry wines in the Mosel. If you haven’t checked out their writing, I think you should. Issues are available by subscription but are free of charge. No affiliation, etc. - just an admirer of their writing.
To give you an idea, the authors pointed out something that I had never thought of, but looking back on my tasting of true Trocken wines from the Mosel, I think they are spot on. Basically, they propose that the general reputation of a vintage is still, despite the passion for dry wines in Germany, more or less based on the quality of the sweeter pradikat wines as opposed to the trockens, GG, EG, etc. I’ve often recalled that those gorgeous high acid vintages that made the sweet wines sing with electric acidity and lift, may also tend to also produce dry wines that are shrill and unbalanced. Of course this is a generalization but I think they really are right.
For my tastes, I’ve REALLY been gravitating to producers willing to play with their dryness levels, many of whom seem to have almost dropped the traditional pradikat classifications entirely. I’ve loved many wines from Lauer, Steinmetz, Immich, Van Volxem, etc. and my (limited!) understanding is that those producers are very flexible with finishing dryness. For me, these producers play right around the feinherb level and the wines seem wonderfully balanced. And they’re really much more flexible with food - frankly much more flexible than true trockens (ever try a dish with a hint of sweetness alongside a truly steely trocken riesling? Yikes.). In my mind, they’re more food-flexible than the sweeter pradikat wines as well.
Anyway, Rayer and Fisch have explained all this so much better than I can - take a look at their article.
I remember a Karthauserhof Auslese Trocken “S” from years ago that was magic. But, further to my note above, I’m pretty darn sure it was from a “fat” vintage. I just for the life of me can’t remember which one - other than it was late 80s … I think… And I love Rebholz as well. Can’t figure out why that producer doesn’t get talked about more. Then again, their prices are certainly high enough now so perhaps people are talking elsewhere.
It occurs to me that I have been imprecise in my use of “MSR” and “Mosel” in describing my own issue with certain trocken wines. In fact, guys like Knebel and Clemens Busch in the Lower Mosel and Peter Lauer and Van Volxem in the Saar, have been making fine trocken and fineherb wines for some time. The problem, for me at least, has been in the Middle Mosel, and that’s why the 08 Fritz Haag GG was such a revelation.
Perhaps, but consider that acid levels everywhere in the MSR (and elsewhere) are not what they used to be. It’s rare indeed to find any wine with acid levels like we saw in '90, '94, '96 or even '98.
Perhaps, but consider that acid levels everywhere in the MSR (and elsewhere) are not what they used to be. It’s rare indeed to find any wine with acid levels like we saw in '90, '94, '96 or even '98.
Fasten your seatbelts acid lovers. The 2010s are coming. High must weights, botrytis, and VERY high acids. It will be interesting to see how the wineries handle the trocken wines. Deacidify? Malolactic fermentation?
I also agree that a great sweet wine vintage doesn’t necessarily make a great trocken vintage. In the last decade 2005 and most probably 2009 will be the best dry wine vintages IMHO.
Ken
Sorry for thread drift, but I have some of Haag’s 2001 Brauneberger Juffer Sonnenuhr Spatlese. Any thought on whether this is a good time to open one? TIA.
I haven’t tasted by all the good producers there, but a couple of them, and the trockens I prefered was JJ Christoffel (or Monchhof). I think it is because acidity is a bit riper there, which gives a better balance, and also they are a bit more concentrated and complex, with a bit of saltiness, which give more interrest to these wines.
Todd, maybe you liked this one better also because it was an Auslese, so with riper acidity than Kabinetts or Spätlese Trockens?
Probably not. Kabinetts from 2001 seem to be showing well, but not spatlese too often. There are exceptions of course (e.g. Donnhoff Hermannshohle Spatlese - young but fantastic), but I know when my impatience has gotten the better of me I have generally been disappointed.