Although no one ever noticed, I realized on my own that I had mistakenly captioned this photo from Tobias on page 27 of our Catalog 2009 as Bremmer Calmont. It’s actually Stein’s revered St. Aldegunder Palmberg-Terrassen.

Stairs up one of the many old drywall terraces at Palmberg that need constant upkeep, as in other Lower Mosel vineyards, such as Winninger Röttgen, where the Knebels have some of their best parcels. Yet, much of the Lower Mosel (also known as the Terrassenmosel) have terraced sites, like the Mittelrhein nearby. Sadly, many vineyards in both regions are being left abandoned and bramble grows there instead of vines.

On the Saar, the Lauers saved an old-vine, terraced plot at Schonfels, which slopes precipitously above a high cliff and down towards the river.

Before Flurbereingung (remodeling of vineyards), the Middle Mosel, Saar, and Ruwer had more terraced hillsides than today. Fortunately, several of our winegrowers, including Clemens Busch and Stefan Steinmetz (Weingut Günther Steinmetz), have been instrumental in saving old Riesling vines or re-cultivating steep slate slopes in their respective communes.

Matthias Knebel in his cellar in the village of Winningen. Photograph by Tobias Hannemann.

At Weingut Reinhard & Beate Knebel the main harvest is winding down. The average must weights this past week were around 95° Oechsle. For example, their old-vine parcel in Sternberg, a former site within today’s Winninger Brückstück, had 104° Oechsle.

As an aside, according to Joachim Krieger’s Terrassenkultur an der Untermosel, the highly-esteemed and original Brückstück vineyard became part of Röttgen in 1912. In turn, the authorities re-named the neighboring “Im Geisen” with the name Brückstück. As if this were not confusing enough, in 1971, the newly-designated Brückstück (i.e., “Im Geisen”) also became part of Röttgen. So, today’s Brückstück is mainly the well-situated Sternberg, a reputable, old-named section of a steep hillside with terraces that adjoins the enlarged Röttgen’s. In other words, the authorites expanded Röttgen to the south, towards the village of Winningen, and this comprises both the original Brückstück and Im Geisen vineyards.

Getting back to the harvest, Matthias Knebel, who has taken over more of the winemaking at the domaine, had this to say about the vintage:

In order to clarify one thing first: we’re very pleased with the harvest. Even if yields are described everywhere as being very low, we should nevertheless be happy about the quality of the grapes. It was reported that rot was prevalent in many areas, and one has to say that there was no bad rot—neither sour rot nor acetification. The grapes possessed from the outset of the harvest marked aromatics. The musts all tasted remarkably fruity, and those from the partly drier parcels have herbal aromas. All in all, it looks like fruitier and, again, somewhat robuster wines than 2008. We’ll have to wait and see. We’ve done our job, now the [wild] yeasts are doing theirs!

Ulli Stein in his cellar in the village of Bullay. Photograph by Tobias Hannemann.

This might look and feel like a repeat of the last post, but it’s not. Even the photo of Ulli Stein before his 30-hl barrel is different. Anyway, the weather here has been just fantastic over the last couple of weeks with plenty of sunshine and cool weather. The main Riesling harvest has been underway.

Ulli explained:

Until the beginning of this week (with the exception of Himmelreich), we were still in pre-selection mode and harvested very good quality, amongst others Blauschiefer with 85° Oechsle and 9.3 g/l acidity—ideal. In Himmelreich, we purposely picked Kabinett and thereby picked once again an elegant “light style” by a combination of two harvest dates (October 14 and 21) with 80° and 86° Oechsle and 9.8 and 9.0 g/l acidity, respectively. On Tuesday and Wednesday, we harvested in Hölle and Klosterkammer wonderful grapes with 98° and 100° Oechsle and 9.5 and 9.0 g/l acidity, respectively. With Pinot Noir, we were finished by Oct. 15, totally healthy and 102° Oechsle. At the moment I am paying close attention to the acidity and will plan the rest of the harvest according to that. In Calmont, we’re done, an elegant Qualitätswein with 88° and a Spätlese with 97° Oechsle, but only 8.2 g/l acidity. We’ll have to give the latter a little Palmberg for support. The grapes are unbelievable and still hanging in Palmberg after the pre-selection: golden-yellow, healthy with a little noble rot, physiologically ripe and with a still racy acidity of 9.0 to 9.5 g/l. In Himmelreich, half the grapes of a similar quality are still hanging for vin de paille. In this year, Palmberg shows, for example, in comparison to Calmont or [Neefer] Frauenberg its absolute singularity and superiority—the old vines dig deep and have from the water source above [the vineyard] no water stress. In Calmont and Frauenberg, it was once again too dry. All in all, it’s been a grandiose autumn, and I’ll proceed in the cellar accordingly.

Ulli Stein in his cellar. Photograph by Tobias Hannemann.

After having beautiful autumn weather in September and early October, the last few days have been rainy here in Trier. Although today it warmed up some with no rain. The main Riesling harvest has yet to begin. Most grapes will be picked over the next several weeks, however.

At Weingut Stein, Ulli wrote:

As late as yesterday [Sunday] the weather was fantastic, and the grapes ripened accordingly. Last week we did a complete pre-selection [a first passage through certain single vineyards] of Riesling grape bunches in Hölle, Klosterkammer, and Himmelreich. (Everything that was not optimal was cut from the vines.) Must weights were between 82° and 85° Oechsle. The grapes taste really good and will go in our table wine or in Blauschiefer. On Saturday, we picked the first Pinot Noir in Himmelreich with a good physiological ripeness and 102° Oechsle. Unfortunately, it’s supposed to rain in the next three days, still not a disaster, but increased risks of rot. We have to keep—and that is already foreseeable—a watchful eye on the acidity. Until now the grape ripening is similar to 2007, but it can quickly go in the direction of 2006  [i.e., with high levels of botrytis]. We’re going to harvest Pinot Noir in the coming weeks and then in Himmelreich and Palmberg those physiologically ripe and crisp Riesling grapes that don’t have Oechsle levels too high for the racy and lean Kabinett trocken and feinherb. All in all, I’m still very pleased and also optimistic.

Please note the following MWM tasting events, if you happen to be in NYC:

On Saturday, October 10, from 4 to 7pm, my colleague, Dan Melia, will be pouring 10 of our selections at Chambers Street Wines.

On the following Thursday, October 15, from 5:30 to 7:30pm, Crush Wine & Spirits will be hosting a big 2008 German Vintage Tasting, which includes a line-up of 27 wines, including nine from our portfolio. Join Dan as he pours our selections alongside other top wines from Germany.

In Joachim Krieger’s detailed book titled Terrassenkultur an der Untermosel, he writes in depth about the Lower Mosel and later describes and classifies the predominantly terraced-vineyard sites from the city of Koblenz upstream to the village of Hatzenport. One of the many topics he delves into are the complex soil types to be found along this stretch of the terraced Lower Mosel and the myth that has been perpetuated over the years by geologists, geographers, winegrowers, and wine writers alike (often by copying from one another) that the soil here consists mainly of a gray, earthy rock called graywacke (Grauwacke). Not only is this an oversimplification of the diverse soils found on the Lower Mosel, but it is also false, for no graywacke exists on either the Mittelrhein  or Mosel-Saar.

Krieger writes that the use of the term graywacke as a broad generalization of the region’s geology failed to take into account that graywacke has minerals called feldspar, which are not present in the stones of the Lower Mosel much less the Saar, for example. In regard to the latter, wine consultant/cellar-master Gernot Kollmann, who worked at Van Volxem, explained to me that certain sites on the Saar such as Kanzemer Altenberg and Wiltinger Braunfels (in particular, the top site of Volz) consist of hard gray slate and sandstone that have no feldspar, hence no graywacke; whereas, other sites such as Scharzhofberg have a deep-draining weathered slate.

The complex soils found on the Lower Mosel include quartzite, quartzite-sandstone, silty sandstone, sandy and silty slate, as well as slate with quartzite. Krieger also describes the Middle Mosel, Ruwer, and Saar as relatively more uniform with its influential rock formation coming from the clayey Hunsrück slate.

For an introduction to the Mosel and, more importantly, a better understanding of the Lower Mosel, Krieger’s book gives great insight, and avoids name-dropping and ranking producers.

The other night I opened a 2006 Burg von der Leyen from our other new addition: Lubentiushof. The non-chaptalized, dry-fermented Riesling comes only from steep slate sites. It revealed purity and concentration. By the way, the label has the water-color titled The Leyen Burg at Gondorf (1839) from William Turner, the famous nineteenth-century English painter.

Andreas and Susanne Barth own 5 hectares (12.4 acres) in the northern area known as the Lower Mosel or Terrassenmosel (Terraced Mosel). They built up the domaine and its reputation almost from scratch: installing a new cellar, investing in monorails for their vineyards, and replanting vines in forgotten sites. Their renovated old home lies in a steep and narrow street in the village of Niederfell. As with Knebel, one notices the attention to the finer details with their wines and approach.

In 1994, Andreas, who was studying law in hopes to becoming a judge, had a vocation to make the “perfect Riesling” and decided to take over 2.5 ha of old vines in the Gäns site. An autodidact, Andreas, started up Lubentiushof with little means and made it into one of the top-flight domaines in this part of the Mosel. He avoids the limelight and prefers to make his wines in a quiet manner without the hype.

Their top steep-terraced sites are Gondorfer Gäns and Koberner Uhlen. (“Gäns” means “geese” in the local dialect.) The former is nearly a monopole, as the Barths own 3.5 out 3.7 ha. Gäns has mixed types of stones: gray and blue slate, iron oxide, quartzite, sandstone, and flint stone. This imparts complexity to the wine, especially from the 2.5 ha of old vines. His Uhlen parcel nearer the village of Kobern has mostly blue slate and differs from certain plots further downstream that have iron-rich red slate and hard sandstone. Although the winegrowers in Kobern can legally name it Winninger Uhlen, Andreas prefers to stick to the proper village name for his wine.

Yields are extremely low with careful, selective, and late harvesting. No flatland Estate Riesling here! The vineyard treatments are minimal. In the cellar, Andreas uses only wild yeasts with long, cool fermentations on the fine lees in stainless-steel tanks. He avoids racking and fining and bottling takes place late, usually in September, while others have long bottled their wines for the marketplace.

Besides May Day, the month of May has a couple Catholic holidays making for long weekends to go along with the many wine domaines now showing off their 2007 vintage. Since returning from my wonderful two-week trip to NYC in the latter half of April, the weather in Trier has played along all month, too, with atypical dry easterly winds, azure skies, and warm weather, à la Provence.

On this three-day weekend, Weingut Reinhard & Beate Knebel presented their new collection, and I got to taste on Saturday for the first time their 2007s; friend and cellarmaster, Gernot Kollmann, took me through the wines. I scribbled some notes, including the third wine tasted in the line-up:

2007 von den Terrassen (or, literally “from the terraces”) Riesling trocken is a cuvée coming mostly from the best steep-terraced sites in Winningen. This is NOT your typical Gutsriesling (Estate Riesling) from the Mosel. On the contrary, it’s a natural dry-fermented, non-chaptalized Riesling that could have been labeled Spätlese trocken. The grapes come primarily from the terraced site of Hamm (ca. 30%, mostly from the foot of the hill and the upper terraces), Domgarten, and from younger vines in the well-known vineyards of Uhlen and Röttgen.

Gernot did an 8-12 hour pre-fermentation maceration for this wine. The golden color (also coming from must-oxidation) and aromatics reveal this. The spontaneous fermentation took place in stainless-steel tanks on the lees at temperatures going as high as 22-24 °C. No additives or fining.

In between Knebel’s presentation, an acquiantance drove me to the charming domaine of Lubentiushof, and I tasted through the 2006s with the owners, Susanne and Andreas Barth. Andreas will bottle his 2007s around September.

In the coming weeks, I’ll add entries on the individual selections to our MWM website. As it looks, we should have a new addition to our portfolio from the Saar Valley, where I tasted earlier this week.

Yesterday, I poured Knebel’s wines alongside Markus Molitor (arguably one of the most respected winemakers in the region) and Gernot Kollmann at Weinhaus Becker in Olewig, a top restaurant and hotel in Trier. Following the tasting, the Beckers matched various wines from the tasting event to a delicious seven-course dinner that lasted over four hours.