For those that don’t know legendary Mosel winemaker Daniel Vollenweider who started this Domain in 1999, passed away in July 2022.
Daniel left his estate and part of his legacy in the hands of young Moritz Hoffman who joined him in 2019. I have now tasted with Moritz three times since he was given the full reigns of the winery and all I can say is that Daniel trained him well! Moritz originally from Alf home of Ulli Stein was more than up for the challenge. He is an incredibly talented and wise beyond his years winemaker. Moritz decided to essentially keep things the same with a few minor adjustments - most notably he picks earlier and the wines are a just a tad lighter especially the sweet wines. I have absolutely loved each collection, 2022, 2023 and now 2024 crafted under his guidance. I think he made the 2023 collection of the vintage in the Mosel and it is too early to tell but his 2024 collection is right up there with Julian Haart and Christoph Schaefer. The Mosel needs more driven and talented winemakers like Moritz.
This was our first appointment on this trip. I arrived at the entrance of one of the most beautiful but understated wineries in all of Germany being in full bloom and perfectly framing Moritz who was sitting on the steps surrounded by the type of lush greenery you can only see in the Mosel. There was something special about this scene and much like the vintage it made me smile!
We start with the 2024 Felsenfest, I wine I absolutely loved in 2023 especially as it was used for a collaboration with Justin Chearno of the Four Horsemen, someone whom I had a very special relationship with and particularly as it relates to his exploration of German wine - I am so happy he was able to visit Germany at least once and it gave me great personal pride to see the 2023 poured BTG at the the Four Horsemen. Moritz says 2024 was completely different than 2023 as you had to wait for the grapes to ripen in 2024. This wine is everything that I love about the Mosel, light, ethereal, acidity, tension, energy! It comes mostly (80%) from Trabacher Schlossberg. A monument to the Mosel greatness in an entry-level bottle that costs $15 in Europe. For the geeks it is 7.6 TA with 4.0 grams of RS. This wine will always be special to me and I will be buying it in case quantities. It is so beyond easy to drink!
After the 2024 Felsenfest we take a detour to taste the 2023 Grand Crus. These are kept in barrel for over a year so are now just hitting the market. I will say it is hard tasting 2023 Grand Cru dry wines next to 2024 entry-level and sweet wines. Moritz likes to keep the dry wines in barrel for extended aging to minimize the fruit profile. All I have to say is that it works these are some of the most impressive dry Mosel wines I have ever tasted and I will be buying all of them.
2023 Goldgrube - Moritz mentions again that 2023 was a very quick harvest. We talk about how it is good to be small when you have a string of tricky vintages like we have had in the Mosel. 4-6 hectares seems to be the ideal size in the Mosel. This has beautiful soaring fresh peach like aromatics. On the palate there is a white pepper and spiciness. Delicious wine.
2023 Goldgrube Aurum - Sadly only 300 liters. The first Aurum since 2020. This is my personal favorite Vollenweider wine dry Mosel wine of the 2023 vintage. It is from one of the best parcels in Wolfer Goldgrube known as Portz that has 100+ year old ungrafted vines. I brought the inaugural 2016 to the Keller / Haart VIP tasting during Rieslingfeier and of course Julian sad he loved the wine and had a case in his cellar.
This is an absolutely riveting wine that I will also be buying in as large a quantity that I can. It has a very cool rose water or gardenia element that you have to taste to believe or maybe it was just all of the roses in full bloom in the Mosel! I loved it at the winery so much that I had 4 bottles at Die Mosel over two days! A hauntingy beautiful wine that is a lasting legacy to what Daniel built at his domain!
2023 Schimbock - This is a monopol site with ungrafted wines with red slate. In 2006, Vollenweider launched a second vineyard- and vine-reclamation project under the name “Schimbock” – referring to a riverside parcel of the Trabener Würzgarten Einzellage. This has a fascinating aromatic profile that is very unique. The old ungrafted wines produce a wine with incredible concentration and deep flavors of guava or burnt pineapple. The extra time in barrel really helps tame the fruit and bring out the minerality.
2024 Trarbacher Burgberg Kabinett - Absolutely glorious aromatics, a bit of sponti that quickly integrats. The acidity is ripe and just right. A lovely, lovely Kabinett. I love the energy in this wine. It has zip!
Vollenweider now has the largest portion of the 7 hectare Wolfer Goldgrube vineyard. Southern and western orientation, rocky grey slate with red vains. The vineyard is known for its long ripening attributes that lead to aromatic, light and mineral driven wines.
2024 Wolfer Goldgrube Kabinett - True old school light Kabinett. Lots of minerality and a refreshing citric quality that is just too easy to drink. Perfect for what it is!
2024 Wolfer Goldgrube Wurzelecht - I absolutely LOVED the 2023 of this wine and I also love the 2024. WOW! Just WOW! The concentration in the wine is just mindlblowing. Deep concentration but also has so much energy and tension and is laser focused. The ungrafted old vines really produce a singular wine that will easilly age for 30-50 years! One of my favorite wines tasted during this trip.
2024 Wolfer Goldgrube Spatlese - This is definitely a drinking, no gulping, Spatlese. This comes from a warm area which allows it to get ripe but it also still retains a wonderful amount of acidity. A word that kept coming up in our tasting discussions was harmony. The riper flavors are in the lemon / lime citric register with lots of white tea like spices.
A few takeways on the 2024 Vintage. The wines are light and ethereal but do not lack concentration. The fruit profile is very unique and consistent across growers and vineyards. It think it is a great dry vintage and one to go long on estate level wines for early drinking pleasure. The Kabinetts are great and from a small sample size it feels like a great classic Spatlese vintage. The wines definitely have enough acidity but it is not the in your face 2021 acidity which geeks like me love. There is a calming nature to the wines. Toward the end of our visits I noted the wines of 2024 simply make you smile!
The Vollenweider estate is in great hands. The Mosel needs more winemakers like Moritz…
