Vintages

THE 2001 VINTAGE IN GERMANY
"Slated for Greatness"

Overview:

Despite a range of good to great quality wines from some regions, 2000 was unfortunately destined to carry a blemish both in the press and in consumers’ eyes.  So, with rains hitting once again in September 2001, there was a lurking fear a sequel was in the making.  After such a pleasant, dry May and June, it hardly seemed fair that another climactic roller coaster was looming.   Would Frank John (at von Buhl) make good on his threat and “go somewhere it is easy to make wine…like California or Australia” should another spirit-wrecking harvest occur?  Many winemakers hinted that another vintage like 2000 would be akin to unlocking the Seventh Seal.  With the September rains falling once more so close to harvest time, there was concern on both sides of the Atlantic.  Was it again time to pay the piper for over a decade of super vintages from Germany?    During the 2000 vintage growers spent 70% more and worked twice as hard to make 50%. There was no doubt that 2001 would have to be a rebound vintage.

There was, however, a saving grace in 2001: temperature.  It was cool air that favored the ripening grapes without the threat of rot that a warmer climate would have facilitated at that time.  Furthermore, a glorious Indian Summer in October capped the season.  Pickers rejoiced in warm, sunny weather and some even worked in shorts and t-shirts.  Clear, ripe fruit structure was the repeated report from most estates and it was soon apparent that not only would 2001 be the success all had hoped for but a truly great vintage on its own…and a perfect way to usher in a new millennium for German wine!

The weather during our trip to Germany was nearly an echo of those dicey weeks ending 2001.  The rumored harsh, cold, wet winter broke mid-January and we had pleasant, unseasonably moderate weather with just a spit of rain turning to snow the day we returned home.  One of our portfolios’ yet to be discovered’ super stars, Werner Schönleber in the Nahe, offered us the first glimpse of the infamous fruit we’d been hearing so much about.  Here, wine tasted from both barrel and tank was dense and concentrated, yet possessed great purity and already showed bright details and good clarity of flavors.  Even the simplest wines were packed with unctuous fruit and finely drawn mineral designs plus hints of the higher Prädikats being sexy and dangerous.  This profile was to ring clearly throughout the trip, from Ahr to Franken.

There’s no crime to doing time in Nackenheim when good cop / bad cop Agnes and Fritz Hasselbach are on patrol.  Their Gunderloch estate continues to be the correctional facility for Riesling with a dark side…or should we say red side?  The rusty Rothenberg dirt is always an infectious underground influence in Rieslings trying to be good and pure.  Once again Sheriff Hasselbach has the whole gang of suspects, from QbA to TBA, locked up in the vault.

Anyone who missed Doris Eymael’s breath-taking Scheurebes in 2000 merely as a result of journalistic assassination of the vintage was simply a victim of fashion.  Those of you who were lucky enough to tap into the sap know that nature often plays with two decks…and Pfeffingen walked away from the table without taking the beating von Buhl did, just a town away.  This year, thankfully, both Pfeffingen and von Buhl rebounded with great wines.   2001 rewarded von Buhl with dazzling wines from QbA through TBA and Doris has another wonderful collection of Scheurebe, Gewürztraminer, and Riesling Spätleses at Pfeffingen.

Finely crafted wines are once again available from Heger where his excellent dry Pinot Gris and exotic Riesling Spätleses are a testament to the vintage’s success in Baden.  2001 is good in Franconia as well and the wines from Wirsching and Fürst are first rate as usual.  When will the public see past the bottle shape and realize some of the greatest wines in the world herald from this beautiful region?  Ironically, the negative press of the 2000 vintage tainted Franken wines and consumers missed the best Franken vintage since 1990, a banner vintage, due to blatant generalizations.

The Rheingau is exceptional in 2001.  Künstler showed us a dizzying lineup of dry Spätlese and Auslese wines.   Gunter’s fruity style Reichestal Kabinett, Kirchenstück Spätlese and Hölle Auslese are also excellent, and there are two Eisweins, from both the Hölle and the Kirchenstück.  In the village of Oestrich at Wegeler, Oliver Haag and Thomas Drieseberg have put together another great collection.  The Wegeler wines include an absolutely stunning Estate Riesling, a delicious Kabinett, dandy Spätlese and Auslese selections, plus a Geisenheimer Rothenberg Eiswein.  At Weil, in Kiedrich, the estate line is the best we’ve ever tasted, and we feel the Kiedricher Gräfenberg wines are the greatest ever produced. There are very few estates that can keep up with Weil when Wilhelm is behind the wheel.  The hood ornament of the vintage is a monstrous Kiedricher Gräfenberg TBA at 204 Öchsle!

Every year we visit the Ahr to lap up the incredible advances Meyer-Näkel continues to make with Pinot Noir and Dornfelder.  It’s one stop we do very little spitting.  Red wine from Germany is still a dark horse in the market but we will continue to champion the cause with some of the most delicious, finely tuned, elegant, terroir-driven reds on the planet.  We’ll gladly take the Pepsi challenge with Burgundy.  We are lucky to receive small lots from Meyer-Näkel as demand always outstrips supply.  The darkly exotic Lembergers and Dornfelders at Graf-Adelmann in Württemberg are mouth-watering temptations as well, and we will continue to promote the juicy, fine Pinot Noirs from von Buhl and Heger, plus Fürst’s red power chords vibrating in Franken.

The Saar and Ruwer had the hardest work in 2001.  For some unexplainable reason the vines could not recover from September’s rain and cool temperatures.  Even with the warm October, photosynthesis had all but stopped and most estates were only able to harvest Kabinett and Spätlese wines.  But even at these levels, the wines will maintain the pure and ripe fruit character 2001 is already famous for.

At Bert Simon in Serrig we tasted very good Estate Riesling and Kabinett wines while Hanno Zilliken, in Saarburg, was able to select up through Spätlese. Luckily, there are some older vintages available (from both estates) that we will tease you with later. Both the Zilliken Kabinett and Spätlese are superb.  The only Saar estate in our portfolio able to select above Spätlese was von Hövel.  Eberhard von Kunow at von Hövel harvested an amazing collection of wines in 2001 including Auslese and GKA.  Christoph Tyrell, owner at Karthäuserhof in the Ruwer, is very happy. His 2001 selections range up through BA and include an Eiswein from the Eitelsbacher Karthäuserhofberg vineyard.

We had heard that the Mosel was one of the strongest links in 2001 but were not prepared for the treasure chest of wines we would find. The middle Mosel is definitely “slated for greatness” in 2001.

At Fritz Haag in Brauneberg, we soon found ourselves writing as much notation for simple QbA and Kabinett as we usually do for the bigger wines.  Wilhelm Haag compares the vintage to 1975.  In the village of Lieser, Thomas Haag at Schloss Lieser harvested every Prädikat level up through TBA from the Niederberg Helden vineyard.  The Schloss Lieser wines always offer a very sophisticated, refined and elegant style.

Robert Eymael easily trumped every other vintage he’s crafted at the Mönchhof in Ürzig.  We tasted three different Spätleses plus many Ausleses from the Erdener Treppchen, Erdener Prälat, and Ürziger Würzgarten vineyards.  The crown jewel here is an Ürziger Würzgarten Eiswein, the first since 1975.  Robert feels the vintage is similar to 1975 but with better acid structure.  His Estate Riesling is the best he’s ever made. 

Next door to Joh. Jos. Prüm at Dr. F. Weins-Prüm in Wehlen, Bert Selbach has produced an absolutely spectacular vintage. These are easily the best wines to ever come from the Dr. F. Weins-Prüm estate, and a collection that can surely be considered as one of the best of the Mosel in 2001.  At Joh. Jos. Prüm, Manfred reluctantly allowed us a peek at the vintage with a couple of tank samples: a smoky, tropical 2001 Wehlener Sonnenuhr Spätlese and an expansive fruit basket of an Auslese from Graacher Himmelreich.  If these two wines are any indication of what lies in the cellar at Joh. Jos. Prüm, aficionados should start saving their money.

Marcus Milz in Trittenheim offered another solid vintage including Eisweins from both Trittenheimer Apotheke and Trittenheimer Felsenkopf vineyards.  At Wegeler’s Mosel estate in the village of Bernkastel the collection is most similar, perhaps, to 1990.  The 2001 collection includes a Bernkasteler Doctor TBA.  The wines offer superb acidic grip while maintaining a bright fruit structure.

Just when we thought it couldn’t get any better, we visited Reinhold Haart in the village of Piesport and Theo treated us to yet another mind-blowing collection.  It’s safe to say that the wines from Reinhold Haart can be earmarked as one of the great collections of the vintage.  Theo feels the vintage is similar to 1990 or 1994, but with better fruit concentration.  All Prädikat levels were produced including BA and TBA. 

2001 is a dream vintage, a crystalline pure fruit fantasy.  While the vintage has great purity, the wines offer great intensity, concentration and complexity all without much botrytis clouding the layers and layers of fruit.  Considering all but a few of the wines were unfinished and a majority were tank or barrel samples (and mostly unfiltered) we were amazed at the clarity and focus of these sparkling gems. 

Overall, the core of the 2001 vintage is packed with great quality Estate Riesling through Auslese with nary a fumble.  Estates that were able to select BA, TBA and Eiswein are destined to have Olympic star power; all with awe inspiring athletic grace and style. Let the games begin!

Estates by region

Mosel-Saar-Ruwer

Mönchhof

This is the best vintage since Robert Eymael has taken charge.  It may seem that Robert Eymael says this every year but the wines just continue to improve.  We’ve tasted many Mönchhof wines from the great ’75 vintage and feel ‘01 soundly trumps them.  Ironically, the last time an Eiswein was made at the Mönchhof was in ’75 and the ’01er is an elegant behemoth from the Ürziger Würzgarten, picked at 135 Öchsle.  It offers ripe, electric pear fruit, with pineapple, grapefruit and lemon zest.  Robert will also be offering his best Estate Riesling to date. The ’01 has a beautiful slatey pear nose, with intense grapefruit and red fruit notes on the palate.  The Ürziger Würzgarten Spätlese was picked at 95 Öchsle, an Auslese in any other vintage (or most other non-VDP estates!)  This is a monster Spätlese with an ominous acid structure and threatening peach and citrus fruit all infected with the dangerous Würzgarten spice.  Take your pick from three Ausleses, an Ürziger Würzgarten at 110 Öchsle, Erdener Prälat at 106 Öchsle or Erdener Treppchen at 108 Öchsle. The botrytis notes here are more of a honey lace rather than the date and fig sledgehammer you might expect, hence the fruit is not clouded and the wines remain clear and pristine even at this level.  The Ausleses definitely flirt with tropical notes, all floating in a peach, citrus, banana oil concentration that’s difficult to comprehend…like a fruit cocktail grenade with star anis shrapnel.  These are intense fruit missiles all capped with activated acid / terroir war heads.

Wegeler (Mosel)

Of all the estates in our program, Wegeler may have the most 1990-esque wines of the Mosel.  Cellarmaster Norbert Breit has dialed back the residual sugar and the acid structure really shines through.  The ’01 Wegeler Bernkasteler Doctor Kabinett has an intense mineral / citrus nose and hints at mango, peach and cherry.  It is lush and silky on the palate (remember this is a Kabinett) and the firm acidic grip highlights its elegance and grace. The Bernkasteler Doctor Spätlese shows more deeply woven yellow fruit in the nose and on the palate, simmering in a powerful acid broth.  The Doctor Auslese shows touches of honey, and has a slightly lower acid level than the Kabinett and Spätlese yet exhibits a long, lush mouth feel that remains fine and focused.  The harvest was a miniscule 48 hl/ha and must weights ranged from 75 to 170 Öchsle.  There was little botrytis, and a Bernkasteler Doctor TBA was produced.

Joh. Jos. Prüm

We always have to prod Manfred Prüm to go down to the cellar and snatch some still fermenting wine of the new vintage to taste.  Each year he offers us a small peek into the window, and this year it was through the half-drawn shades of ’01 Wehlener Sonnenuhr Spätlese and Graacher Himmelreich Auslese.  The Wehlener Sonnenuhr Spätlese shows very ripe, concentrated fruit in the nose.  Still fermenting, the acid seemed to scream from behind a shower curtain for a little privacy.  But what we could peep at was bright, slender, compact and curvaceous with tangy, swinging mangos and passion fruit…plus a nice smoky squirt of oily terroir fogging up the mirror. It will probably loose ¾ of gram in acid as it develops.   On the other hand, the Graacher Himmelreich Auslese was almost a finished wine with a juicy peach, grapefruit and tropical nose. There is a huge mouth feel sprinkled with hints of concentrated peach, apricot, orange and pear on the palate supported by a very, very ripe acid structure…truly a great Auslese.  The harvest yielded 55 hl/ha with must weights ranging from 75 to 150 Öchsle.  The top of the vintage was a Wehlener Sonnenuhr BA and a Bernkasteler Johannisbrünnchen Eiswein.  Manfred feels the vintage is a cross between ’90 and ’99.  Acids are very ripe (lots of tartaric), and little botrytis except in the GKA, LGKA and BA.

Dr. F. Weins-Prüm

After our meeting at Joh. Jos. Prüm we were off to the estate next-door, Dr. F. Weins-Prüm.  If anyone was going to impress us in ’01 on the Mosel, they’d need an almost heroic collection of wine.  Well, Bert Selbach has just that.  We started off with a terrific grapefruit and gravel-driven Estate Riesling…fresh and juicy with a firm fruit core and slate profile throughout.   Next were Kabinetts; an Ürziger Würzgarten, Graacher Domprobst and Wehlener Sonnenuhr that were all unique and stunning.  The Wehlener is the most citrus toned, compact and elegant while the Graacher is tropical and ripe with broad, well-integrated soil murmurs. The Ürziger is a flower patch surrounded by wet pavement...peaches and pears and plenty of good, wholesome dirt.  As fine as these Kabinetts were, the heart and soul of Dr. F. Weins-Prüm in ‘01 are Spätlese and Auslese wines. The extremely high consistency of exceptional quality between the four Spätleses and three Ausleses tasted is something we’ve rarely seen.  We tasted Spätleses from Graacher Himmelreich, Graacher Domprobst, Wehlener Sonnenuhr and Erdener Prälat.  The Sonnenuhr has an alluring citrus perfume, with a very finely detailed and focused minerality, all balanced on a note of slate.  It’s obviously a declassified Auslese, with its dense yellow peach, orange, red fruit, banana and hint of mint.  The Prälat Spätlese has great purity and concentration.  It is huge, with cans of pear cocktail syrup, red fruit and chalk dust.   At the Auslese level it only gets better with a Wehlener Sonnenuhr and Erdener Prälat.  We were unable to taste a Wehlener Sonnenuhr LGKA, picked at 130 Öchsle, but are sure it will take our breath away. This is one of those tastings where you leave dumbfounded, shaking your head wondering exactly how was it done.  Bert compares the vintage to 1990 (only better), and feels it is his finest work since taking over Dr. F. Weins-Prüm in the early 80’s.

Schloss Lieser

There is a very low yield at Schloss Lieser in ’01 and Thomas Haag compares his range of QbA to Spätlese favorably to the ’93 vintage, and in Auslese selections upward to his ’94s.  However, in either case he feels it is his best vintage to date.  These are perhaps the most sophisticated wines of the vintage we tasted in the Mosel.  Thomas has a very elegant, focused, sleek, and refined style.  The Schloss Lieser Estate Riesling and Kabinett both have juicy pear fruit balanced by layers of oily yet elegant, slatey earth tones.  The Niederberg Helden Spätlese has a significant increase in concentration over the Kabinett with more yellow peach, apricot and raspberry, as well as an intriguing sour plum surprise.  It finishes with a whiff of smoky earth.  At the Auslese level Thomas adds to the customary selection with an Auslese*, Auslese ** and an Auslese***.  After a short ping-pong of notes we decided to order the Auslese and Auslese **.  The Niederberg Helden BA is 100% botrytised at 150 Öchsle, and shows yellow peach, apricot, honey, and hints of fig, date and white pepper.  It is sleek and powerful.  The purity, elegance and focus of the ’01 silhouette is maintained throughout the selections including the BA.  A second BA plus a TBA picked at 195 Öchsle were not available to taste.  Amazing wines one and all.

Fritz Haag

Wilhelm Haag compares this vintage to ’75.  He even brought out a ’75 to prove his point.  Again, there’s no denying the ’75 and ’01 vintages are similar, but we think the ’01 Haag wines offer better concentration.  Sometimes when you find yourself waxing poetically about an Estate Riesling, you have some idea of what’s in store for the rest of the tasting.  The ’01 Haag Estate Riesling is really too complex for a “basic” QbA, so don’t let the Qualitätswein name fool you.  The nose has an intense very ripe pear perfume, with dashes of slate.  On the palate it is graceful, with fine mineral and gravel tones, elegant slate and red fruit notes, very long finish for a QbA.  The 2000 vintage marked the end of the Fritz Haag Estate Kabinett, and from 2001 forward the wine will be bottled as Fritz Haag “Brauneberger Juffer” Kabinett.   The Juffer Kabinett offers peach and raspberry notes in the nose, and tremendous concentration on the palate.  Citrus tang, grapefruit, red fruit, and a long mineral driven finish (you’d guess this was a Spätlese).   The Brauneberger Juffer Sonnenuhr Kabinett has a similar perfume in the nose as the Juffer Kabinett, but shows more slate.  On the palate Sonnenuhr is even more refined and elegant the Juffer, and adds an orange / tangerine note.  It’s all packed in a light, almost ethereal form, but yet offers incredibly intense fruit for a Kabinett.  The Brauneberger Juffer Sonnenuhr Spätlese smells tangy, with its orange citrus note, very zesty, with hints of banana as well.  Good weight in the mouth, with a bigger hit of slate than in the Kabinett.  Very long on the finish, super!   Last Wilhelm offered up a Brauneberger Juffer Sonnenuhr Auslese (#6), this wine was very tropical and pure (no botrytis).  On the palate there’s banana juice, peach and elegant red fruit.  The slate shifts into yet another gear, framed beautifully from beginning to end.  The long tangy mineral driven finish hints of spice.  There will be much more from Haag in ’01, including other Ausleses, GKA, LGKA, BA and a TBA – none of which were available to taste.  Haag feels 2001 is one of the best harvests since he started in 1957.

Reinhold Haart

Even with a great vintage like ’01 on the Mosel, there will always be some estates that seem to stand out above the others.  We feel Reinhold Haart is one of those estates in ’01.  Theo Haart picked everything through TBA.  The fruit and structure found in the ’01 Reinhold Haart wines is simply glorious.  Theo’s average must weight was an unbelievable 94 Öchsle.  He feels the vintage is a cross between ’71, ’90 and ’94, only that ’01 has better concentration.  Starting with his Piesporter Goldtröpfchen Kabinett, there’s yellow peach, raspberry, strawberry, orange cream, and grapefruit notes.  Remarkable, but if you liked the Kabinett, wait until you try the Goldtröpfchen Spätlese.  If there’s a better Spätlese we’d like to try it.  Banana ash, hints of coco, cassis, raspberry, and slate earth.  It’s a mammoth Spätlese on the palate, with dense yellow peach, coco spice, hints of honey, all incredibly concentrated, and with an unbelievable lubricating texture.  The finish just keeps on, with hints of red fruit and honey.  The BA and TBA were not available to taste, but Theo did show us an Auslese from the Wintricher Ohligsberg.  The Ohligsberg Auslese was a picked from “virgin” vines, at 105 Öchsle, the Auslese shows quite a bit of botrytis, with mineral aromas, dark yellow peach and fine caramel lace.  Very sophisticated on the palate, tropical and rich, caramel peach pie, but still hints of orange an maintains a very ripe and juicy fruit profile.  Only 40 hl/ha with must weights from 83 to 175 Öchsle and high extracts and lots of tartaric acid.  The finishing touch on the vintage is the Piesporter Goldtröpfchen TBA at 175 Öchsle.  One of the great collections of 2001.

Milz - Laurentiushof

Markus Milz is very happy with the ’01 vintage.  The core of the vintage stretches up through Auslese, and there are two Eisweins, from Trittenheimer Felsenkopf and Trittenheimer Leiterchen at 137 Öchsle.  As with many estates, wines still in fermentation preempted a concise survey.  We concentrated on two of our favorites that will most likely be ordered.  The Trittenheimer Felsenkopf Spätlese, with its tropical / coconut aromas, slender pear-oil stuffing and spicy minerality is a show of power and elegance.  Secondly, the Trittenheimer Leiterchen Auslese, with it’s spread of nectarine, banana, cherry and grapefruit aromas punctuated with a fine latticework of minerals is a perfect picture of exotic abandon vs. stylish restraint.  The finish hints of cassis, apricot pits and hazelnuts.

Karthäuserhof

For you terroir freaks out there, the Karthäuserhof is a slam dunk in 2001.  These are real ‘Ruwer Rieslings’, motivated by the classic Karthäuserhof mineral structure.  The Eitelsbacher Karthäuserhofberg Kabinett is primarily citrus toned with hints of ripe grapefruit and red fruit on the palate but the finish is pure stony minerals and earth.  The Eitelsbacher Karthäuserhofberg Spätlese adds to the fruit profile with rich peach and strawberry fruit flowing over a mineral bed showing great definition and play on the finish.  The Karthäuserhof Auslese is the most exotic of the group. With a diesel dabbed pear and cassis in the nose it still manages to frame red fruit, and apple within its colossal yet compact ashy mineral structure.  A botrytised Karthäuserhof GKA wipes the nose with hints of dates, figs and ash all floating around an apricot/cherry core.  Karthäuserhof’s BA is darker than the GKA, with a more tropical nose and hints of orange.  It mirrors the date, fig and dried apricot of the GKA on the palate, but in a more concentrated form.  Finally we tasted the ‘01 Karthäuserhof Eiswein, with its electrified apricot, peach, mango and date with a hazelnut crust.  Again a small harvest, only 50 hl/ha.  On 11/11/01 the first Eiswein was selected at 120 Öchsle, and on December 14^th and 15^th, a second Eiswein selection was made at 140 Öchsle.  A very good vintage, with no must weights below Spätlese.

von Hövel

Of all our Saar estates, von Hövel has the greatest collection of wine.  With a meager harvest of only 35 hl/ha, Eberhard von Kunow feels that ’01 is easily better than his 1990s.  Essentially, everything picked at von Hövel in ’01 is Spätlese quality and higher.  The only down side to this success is that there will probably be no "Balduin” Estate Riesling from the vintage. There is still good continuity of 2000 “Balduin”.  Eberhard first showed us a wonderful Oberemmeler Hütte Spätlese with a bright, candied citrus/peach nose spotlighting concentrated grapefruit and pear oil.  It’s a lively dirt-jelly dance on the tongue, with compact strawberry, tangerine and grapefruit.  The soil influences are stretched throughout.  Fairly elegant for an Auslese, the Oberemmeler Hütte Auslese maintains the juicy stuffing of the Spätlese but is sleeker with a lush raspberry/lime oil impression. There is a brilliant acid structure driving it towards a citrus profile with glimmers of tart red fruit and a lemon cream pie on the finish.  Finally, Eberhard presented an Oberemmeler Hütte GKA, picked at 125 Öchsle, that is essentially an Eiswein selection.  Its sizzling grapefruit notes are balanced by hints of apricot, passion fruit, cassis, cherry-apple cider and coco dust.  With 80 - 90% botrytis, there are also hints of caramel, saffron and white pepper.  Electric on the palate, the wine is a reduction of bright yellow peach, apricot, black cherry, lime skin, caramel, and a crackling 1.2% acid!   A super collection. 

Zilliken

As his fans already know, there is a wonderful ethereal quality in Hanno Zilliken’s wines…the unbearable lightness of being, perhaps.  His 2001s are no exception but with the additional stuffing of bright, firm fruit components that we are beginning to see as a constant thread throughout the vintage. The Zilliken Estate Rieslings (both medium-dry and fruity) are ripe, juicy, compact and refreshing with vibrant peach and raspberry fruit, and that signature Zilliken minerality at heart.  The Saarburger Rausch Kabinett exhibits a tempting stony, mineral spice in the nose.  There’s a big hit of tangy peach and raspberry fruit on the palate along with a superb mineral structure balanced with great acidity.  Silky and finely formed, there is very long, racy finish for a Kabinett.  The Saarburger Rausch Spätlese has a powerful concentration in the nose, with peach fruit and floral notes and a hint of spice (40% botrytis) that adds a wonderful honey lace component.  There is that typical rose petal hint in the aroma.  A lush javelin of peach and citrus is launched on the palate with hints of a peppery orange, all hovering in a spicy mineral puddle.  Hanno also produced a mind-splitting ’01 Spätlese and GKA that will be released at auction.  It would be morally wrong to share our notes on this wine that is not available.  Here too, the yield was extremely low, only 40 hl/ha.  We feel the wines are similar to the wonderful ’93 Zilliken wines, but with better concentration. 

Bert Simon

Bert probably suffered more than any of our estates in this vintage.  While his 2001 QbA and Kabinett are very good, one can only wonder how good the Spätleses and Ausleses might have been had the vines recovered from the cool, wet September.  For some unexplained reason the vines shut down…no more photosynthesis means no more Öchsle.  One would have expected the warm, sunny October to trigger the vines back into production, but this sadly wasn’t the case. Bert simply ended up with very fine Estate Riesling and Kabinett.  The ’01 Bert Simon Estate Riesling has a dense, almost jammy nose with flashes of spiced peach, raspberry and lime. On the palate it offers lush pear fruit laced with spicy soil details, and is very elegant and focused.  The Bert Simon Serriger Herrenberg Kabinett has a more intense citrus note with soft restrained floral aromas and a hint of red fruit.    The compact design really drives home the essence of peach, citrus and raspberry on a slatey frame…very ripe, pure, bright and clear.  In response to a shorter list of wines this year Bert has agreed to release to us some cookies from the vault.  Be on the lookout for some wonderful wines with a decade of cellaring from Bert’s secret stash!

Rheingau

Robert Weil

Most Riesling aficionados know that Weil has built its name with noble sweet wines.  The great Kiedricher Gräfenberg wines have carved out a near cult status for collectors around the world.  We approach the Weil line in two categories; the Weil “Estate” wines QbA through Spätlese, and then the second tier of Kiedricher Gräfenberg single vineyard selections from Spätlese upward. Both are inspiring in 2001.  The entire line of Estate offerings is consistent through the Spätlese Prädikat, offering a classic round and rich Rheingau style, all with wonderful peach, orange and citrus notes.  There are very few estates that can keep pace in the 2001 race with the Gräfenberg entry once Weil shifts into Auslese gear.  Picked at (gulp) 127 Öchsle, there’s a botrytised honey note laced into the peach fabric.  The palate turns more sinister with hints of caramel, apricot, and yellow peach fruit, all arranged in a very elegant and rich package.  The Weil Gräfenberg BA is an elegant syrup selected at 155 Öchsle (TBA quality), and has intensely spiced peach and minerally pear aromas.  The texture on the palate is luxurious with oily peach cream, tangerine, apricot and date all dressed in a caramel robe, but remains firm in its great acid structure (1.2%) at the finish.  Next on the noble sweet wine dance card is the Gräfenberg Eiswein, its sizzling acid kicking up in the nose like a cumbia along with percussive apricot and orange notes.  It has the concentration of the BA, but the searing Eiswein acidity makes it tango on slate and caramel at the finish.  If that isn’t enough, there’s also a Gräfenberg TBA picked at 204 Öchsle.  Drag your nose through this dense, shimmering puddle of pear, apricot, saffron, grapefruit ash and white pepper.  This is a concentrated brick of juice. The wine already has a beautiful golden yellow color and breathtaking concentration on the palate with hints of orange, apricot, date, fig, and smoked ham.  This revved-up apricot roadster hits a huge peach nectar oil slick, spins for a mile and brakes in its stop-on-a-dime acidity.  This is one of the great wines of the vintage.  

Franz Künstler

The deep clay soils of Hochheim were not compatible with the vast amount of rain and warm weather in 2000 and if anyone needed a turnaround vintage it was Franz Künstler.  Gunter had been on a rampage since the 1996 vintage, culminating in ’99 with one of the best collections we’ve ever offered.  Fans rejoice!  Künstler is back with a collection that includes Eisweins from both the Hochheimer Hölle and Kirchenstück vineyards, picked at 165 and183 Öchsle respectively.  Gunter first guided us through an excellent array of trocken, or dry, Rieslings.  Spätlese trockens from the Hochheimer Hölle, Stielweg, Kirchenstück all show great breed.  Our core trocken wine from Künstler, the Hochheimer Stielweg Spätlese dry, displayed ripe peach and cassis in the aromatics, with little tropical hints of banana chip and pineapple.  A finely detailed, dark clay terroir carries the spread of grapefruit, lime, pineapple and raspberry spun around an intriguing mineral/acid framework with a chew of tobacco leaf spice.  There is great elegance and texture at work in the 2001 fruity wines.  The Hochheimer Reichestal Kabinett is firm and smooth with juicy peach fruit and mineral peppered orange/citrus over a tangy acid structure.  The Hochheimer Kirchenstück Spätlese adds a near -botrytised fruit note to the exotic spray of sour plum, dandelion, kirsch, and peach oil spiked with little nutty aromas.  It’s rich, long and silky on the palate, yet tangy and compact with subtle peach, orange and toasted cashew.  Künstler’s Hochheimer Hölle Auslese is mind-grinding with its heavily botrytised nose of burnt cashew oil, date, fig ash, peach, apricot sorghum, and porcini mushroom all stewing together.  On the palate it’s a spooky underground tiara of sparkling juice; expressive, haunting, silky and dark…like Goya painting oil-on-velvet matadors from the twilight zone.  There are additional notes of caramel oil, smoky peach, burning orange and forest mushrooms all organized on a dense, rich, silky chessboard, picked at 120 Öchsle.  There are two very good Eisweins but, alas, no GKA, BA or TBA selections. The Hochheimer Hölle Eiswein is crowded with concentrated aromas of spiced apple cider, pear shellac, dried dates and figs in a coco lace.  On palate the wine shows dried apricots, sweet spiced apple, plum and a garnish of wild mushrooms, all delicately balanced with the dazzling acid you expect from an Eiswein.  The Hochheimer Kirchenstück will take the longest to unfold, with its complex strata of fruit embryos still buried in primordial molten apricot goo as it hatches a swarm of dates, oranges, mushrooms and coco, all bubbling to the rich creamy surface.

Wegeler (Rheingau)

We’ve always said with Oliver Haag (son of iron-fisted Mosel heavy weight Wilhelm at Fritz Haag) at the helm of the cellar in the Rheingau, it’s only a matter of time before the Wegeler estate is running (and nipping) with the big dogs.  Great strides were made in 1999 and just a year later Wegeler had produced, in our opinion, the best collection of 2000 Rheingau wines.  Wegeler now offers significant competition for Weil and Künstler up through the Auslese level with their collection in 2001.  The Wegeler Estate Riesling medium-dry is dynamic with fresh peach, raspberry and lilac aromatics.   Ripe and concentrated, clean and pure with bright grapefruit, strawberry, and orange crème spooned across a firm mineral and acid structure.  The Wegeler Kabinett has a dense orange and peach nose with piquant blasts of terroir pepper and Spätlese-like concentration on the palate.  This is an Estate Kabinett that mops the deck with most single vineyard Kabinetts.  The Wegeler Rüdesheimer Berg Rottland Spätlese displays fresh strawberry, orange and pear aromas with a density that hints of a brewing fruit storm. It is pure Rheingau in texture; stylish, sophisticated and compact with a lively yet elegant acid structure balancing the spicy strawberry, peach and sour plum influences.  The Geisenheimer Rothenberg Auslese reveals a jam like fruit, not quite as ripe and juicy as the others but with delicate citrus and floral aromas as well.  Picked at 103 Öchsle, it is quite stony with a reduced peach character, sleek and elegant with firm mineral details throughout.  The Geisenheimer Rothenberg Eiswein is the crown jewel of the Wegeler vintage with a must weight of 155 Öchsle.  A shopping cart of raspberry, mango, orange, cherry, banana, yellow peach, and grapefruit smacks you in the face. Still cloudy from the tank, it retains clarity of focus drilled through with long mineral bits and spinning acid framework in the mouth.

Pfalz

Pfeffingen

Pfeffingen was one of the only Pfalz estates to escape Mother Nature’s wrath in 2000 as Doris Eymael’s stunning Scheurebes testify. 2001 is back on the mark starting with a lovely Estate Riesling dry with a marvelous minerally lemon and peach perfume.  It’s round, broad and spicy with solid pit fruit details covered by a peppery orange skin and subtle acid network delivering a very dry finish. The Pfeffingen ‘Pfeffo’ Kabinett medium-dry has fresh floral and citrus aromas augmented with a briny mineral lace; and pipes the palate with juicy, spice dusted peach and earthen minerality, racking up a long, finely tuned finish.  The Ungsteiner Herrenberg Riesling Spätlese is an aromatic drum machine of ruby grapefruit, raspberry, pear, tangerine, black cherry and celery leaf.  Delicate fruit hammers tap out exotic rhythms on the palate with juicy pear and cherry counterpoint, and the total composition is a statement on power and grace. The Ungsteiner Honigsäckel Gewürztraminer Spätlese is perhaps the best Pfeffingen has ever crafted with its dark rose petals, smoky pear, cassis, caramel, and white pepper floating in a nutty, rich orange spiced oil.  Sensual and seductively textured, the seamless, silky fruit-filling is peppered with tangy soil sprinkles and a superb acidic nerve.  Ungsteiner Herrenberg Scheurebe Spätlese is a fruit cocktail of ruby grapefruit, pear oil, raspberry, passion fruit, lime leaf, geranium and a twinkling of cantaloupe and cherry.  There is a long, silky thread of banana and grapefruit to chew through, elegant and fine with a firm acidic bond.  The Ungsteiner Herrenberg Scheurebe Auslese is a heady cologne of caramel, condensed milk, apricot grappa, cinnamon and cedary wood spices.  Dense layers of rich, tropical fruit muscle are stretched over a broad acidic rib cage, poised with spring loaded feline power and grace.  63 h/ha with must weights from 86 to 107 Öchsle. 

von Buhl

Easily the hardest hit estate from our portfolio in the last vintage, von Buhl struggled to come up with 2000 Estate Riesling and Kabinett.  We are happy to report 2001 was much kinder, yielding wines up through Eiswein & TBA.  The first is the ’01 von Buhl Estate Riesling Med-Dry (non-chaptalized), with an intense citrus, lemon minerality.  On the palate the wine shows apple and pear, with a touch of red fruit, driving minerals, and a great acid structure.  The “Armand” Kabinett is one of the best ever crafted by von Buhl.  Bright, with juicy peach and red fruit, the fruit profile captivates you.  Forster Jesuitengarten Spätlese, yellow peach fruit with earth and mineral in the nose.  On the palate the Jesuitengarten Spätlese actually shows a touch of honey (botrytis), with juicy peach fruit, and a dark heavy earth terroir to balance.  Finally there was a Forster Ungeheuer GKA, with honey, orange, apricot, and tangerine fruit.  It’s a very bright and focused style for a GKA, with hints of date and fig on the finish.  There are other Ausleses, but they were not available to taste.  On 12/15/01 Eisweins were picked in the Forster Jesuitengarten and Forster Ungeheuer vineyards with must weights in the 165 Öchsle range.  There are also Scheurebe and Riesling TBA’s from von Buhl, however due to fermentation they were not available to taste.  The harvest yielded a low 45 hl/ha, and most wine was harvested in the Kabinett and Spätlese Prädikat levels.

Franken

Wirsching

Anyone who missed drinking some of the finest wines produced in the last decade in Franconia due to the highly generalized reviews of 2000 were nearly as unfortunate as those who suffered rot in the Rheingau.  Not since 1990 had Wirsching reveled in such a banner year.  While 2001 might not have had the high must weights of 2000, it is still another first-rate vintage, and Riesling faired particularly well.  The 2001 Wirsching Rivaner “Summer Wine” has bright floral and pear aromas and an elegant, stony grapefruit and pear presence.   The Iphöfer Kronsberg Silvaner Kabinett dry has focused gravelly pear notes, with a round mouth feel and a persistent, mineral washed citrus and pear fruit on the finish.  The Iphöfer Julius Echter Berg Silvaner Kabinett dry offers additional complexity in the nose with a layer of raspberry, iris perfume and earthy piquence.  It is refreshing and ripe with a more filigreed mineral structure on the palate off set by a tart, lemony closure. Showing more like a Spätlese on the palate, the Iphöfer Julius Echter Berg Riesling Kabinett dry is a rich wind up of tangy citrus and cherry batted in with a smooth gravel swing. The long, long finish is out of the park.  Even more powerful is the Iphöfer Julius Echter Berg Spätlese Dry, rich, round, spicy on the palate, great structure with ripe pears, cherries and hints of tropical fruit.  From the Iphöfer Kronsberg there is a fruity style Riesling Spätlese with a fine filigreed, elegant structure.  It shows juicy grapefruit, pineapple, and raspberries.  Last is a Riesling Auslese from the Iphöfer Julius Echter Berg, with almost 50% botrytised and picked at 111 Öchsle.  Very fine seamless, layered fruit with great power.  Apricots, honey date, rich, oily texture and great length.  The Scheurebes from the Iphöfer Kronsberg are again superb; the Spätlese is another powerhouse with 14.5% alcohol.  Compact, dense with grapefruit, red fruits, with hints of cassis and a bright, long finish.  At the upper end of the 2001 vintage are several BAs from both the Pinot Gris and Scheurebe varietals.   The two wines which stand alone at the top are a Rieslaner TBA (175 Öchsle) and a Riesling Eiswein at 225 Öchsle, both from the Iphöfer Julius Echter Berg vineyard.

Fürst

A recent addition to our portfolio, Paul Fürst continues to dazzle us with his free-thinking advances in red and white wine alike from his meager 37 acres, mostly in the Bürgstadter Centgrafenberg, but also the Volkacher Karthäuser.  His 2001 Silvaner Kabinett dry has creamy aromas of lime and spiced pineapple and is elegant, focused, refreshing and finely drawn in minerals.  Every year, and again in 2001, Fürst’s delicious Müller-Thurgau Kabinett dry (a must for the summer months) smacks of pear, raspberry, lemon and orange aromas and is molded with bright, racy grapefruit and cassis, strikingly balanced by a nervous mineral element.  The Riesling Kabinett shows even more of that creamy citrus and pineapple in the nose with snapping, electrical raspberry and lime juice reacting with bright flashes in the mouth.  There is a reoccurring motif of finely structured, interlocking tropical, berry and citrus fruit components in all of the four separate tanks of Spätleses we sampled.  The final model will no doubt reveal the signature architecture Paul’s wines always employ, with a foundation set clearly in the formative terroir of the region.  The style of two of Fürst’s fruity Riesling Spätleses reminds us more Mosel or Nahe Riesling wines.  We were also treated to a sleepy little Riesling Eiswein, picked at a demure 215 Öchsle (12/14/01), tasting of bread dough (yeast from fermentation), lime and fruit cocktail syrup…but bright, focused and persistent despite the interrupted science project.  In addition to the Eiswein there is also a Rieslaner TBA picked at 167 Öchsle, but it was not available to taste.  Of sixteen barrel samples of a variety of clonal selections from Pinot Noir and Frühburgunder, the 2001 ‘Parzival’ is the likely contender for our book.  This raspberry meat wagon is an assemblage of various Pinots clones and 60% Domina, a virtual squid-inked tenderloin in blackberry catsup, tight and firm with a green oak girdle. It’s a juice-missile asleep in the silo just waiting to be launched.  Boom.

Nahe

Emrich-Schönleber

Delighted with his 2001 collection, Werner Schönleber compares the line up with his thrilling ‘90s, minus the aggressive acid structure.  The Emrich-Schönleber Estate Riesling medium-dry is heavily mineral toned with pear, peach, and a hint of orange blossom, finishing with a spanky citrus tang…a pretty fruit basket in the dirt.  The superbly structured fruity Estate Kabinett (picked at over 90 Öchsle) has intensely bright pear and apple wattage, citrus shaded, and an almost gooey peach finish.  The lemon oil and celery leaf scented Monzinger Halenberg Spätlese is like turbo-concentrated peach jam on the palate, revving with peach, banana, and citrus, all working harmoniously with piston precision in a very elegant machine.  Tasting more like a GKA, the monster Monzinger Halenberg Auslese is huge and scary.  It’s tweaked to yet another power level, like a juice bomb with citrus fall-out.  A darker, more botrytised nose for an Auslese, there is great power and elegance creeping behind the nutty, peach and date profile where the talons of acidity sink in and shake the juice to its core.  In conclusion, Werner presented us a Monzinger Halenberg Eiswein, harvested on 12/18/01 with 160 Öchsle.  Exploding cans of apricot honey, banana oil, toasted nuts, orange marmalade and pineapple concentrate remind us of his 1999 Eiswein as much as a detonated pastry chef’s pantry!  Still sequestered during the trials of fermentation, this tank sample is clear and lucid, absent the blistering acids you might expect.  Richly textured and as elegant as any BA, this sleeping beauty is worth the wait.

Rheinhessen

Gunderloch

Being one of the most consistent estates we are fortunate enough to represent, Gunderloch has time and again proved itself among peers in the Rheinhessen as well as  the whole of Germany,  2001 not being an exception.  Fritz and Agnes Hasselbach are ecstatic with their 2001s, having picked from QbA through TBA, and feel the vintage compares favorably to 1990.  Even at the simplest level, the Gunderloch Estate Riesling dry is a driving force with its rich, bright-styled peach fruit and defiant Nackenheimer Rothenberg earth at the finish. The "Jean Baptiste" Kabinett is still a work in progress with selections from the Nackenheimer Rothenberg (ripe, extracted, broad and tangy) and Niersteiner Hipping (elegantly focused and earthy). There is a great acid structure forming, with citrus and peach speckled fruit afloat, and a brazen dark, earthy swagger at the finish.  The Nackenheimer Rothenberg Spätlese is a snoot full of diesel framboise, pushed to the brink by the ominous red earth.  This sparkling raspberry-peach and grapefruit jam is extracted from volcanoes and hammered into an eternal form on a red dirt anvil.  Fritz then served up the Rothenberg Auslese *** (a med-dry Auslese), showing an intense Rothenberg earth perfume, dusty red rock with spicy peach and tropical hints of pineapple and mint.  Next up was the Nackenheimer Rothenberg Auslese, it is revelatory.  60% botrytis splatters spiced apricot, banana and burnt honey on a wall of red dirt.  Tropical fruit cocktail syrup gurgles with bubbles of passion fruit and twangy grapefruit, gently squeezed by the sturdy acidity.  The BA and TBA were not available for comment but Fritz did coax a Rothenberg GKA from its isolation booth.  It’s no surprise to find figs, apricot and date ash in the nose, considering it’s 100% botrytised.  It ambushes the senses, loaded with dangerous, ultra-ripe jam bullets…guava, peach, nectarine and passion fruit, and all elegantly balanced in a swirling hail of acidity and deep red slate.  

Württemberg

Graf Adelmann

Württemberg is perhaps not the first region you think of when you think of fine German wine.  Nonetheless, Graf Adelmann is generally regarded as the top estate in Württemberg producing a wide array of wines.  The 2001 vintage reminds Count Michael Adelmann of 1989, a vintage that also had very good, firm fruit structure, especially for red wines.  The primary focuses at the Adelmann estate are wines made from the brooding, mysterious Lemberger, packed with wild dark berries, coffee, pungent pepper shades and game.  There is a snappy blueberry/orange Dornfelder with an attractive kick of dirt at the tail end as well as some haunting blends (including a % of Cabernet Sauvignon) just now taking form and learning to walk in the laboratory.  These wines should not remain a secret in our book for anyone fearless enough to crack the code of German red wine.  There are also some high quality whites from Adelmann, including Riesling and Pinot Gris.  The overall harvest yield was 57 hl/ha, with the top must weight of the vintage being a Riesling Auslese at 115 Öchsle.  One interesting fact provided by Adelmann was October of 2001 was the warmest in 200 years (the city of Stuttgart has been recording weather data since 1792)

Baden

Dr. Heger & Weinhaus Heger

Mastermind Joachim Heger was not available to taste with us in January, but Walter Bibo from Heger’s sister estate Fischer took us through the 2001 vintage.  The tasting was the usual coma inducing Heger-rally through 60 some odd wines, made from seven or eight varietals.  The focus for us is always the collection of Pinot Gris, Pinot Blanc, Pinot Noir, Muskateller and Rieslings and they are marvelous in ’01.  Both the Pinot Gris and Pinot Blancs have good body, with a wonderful stony, mineral terroir underpinning a wide range of bright tropical, red berry and citrus nuances.   There is a very good, very dry Ihringer Winklerberg Riesling Spätlese, with an intense peach fruit focus, balanced on the palate with that smoky Winklerberg volcanic minerality.  The final assemblage of the Weinhaus Heger Pinot Noir QbA had not been finished but the various barrels all showed excellent ripe, bright cherry, cranberry, rhubarb and raspberry fruit with wonderfully integrated black tea and coffee tones, finished with a healthy twist on the volcanic pepper grinder.  On the noble sweet end, there are two wines, a Scheurebe BA 150 at Öchsle and a Muskateller TBA at 190 Öchsle, both were unavailable for tasting.  Overall yield was 55 hl/ha, with above average acids and sugar free extracts. 

Otto Fischer

When comparing the Fischer wines to the Heger wines, most marked is the terroir difference, Fischer’s heavy soils in the village of Bottingen clearly show through on the palate.  Both the Fischer Pinot Blanc and Pinot Gris are quite concentrated, compact, with clean bright fruit flavors of melons, gooseberries and pear.  The juicy earth terroir provides for a complex finish.  Several of the Pinot Noirs tasted are quite good; Fischer has showing great improvement over the last few vintages, and the wines are almost Burgundian in style. 

Ahr

Meyer-Näkel

Voted Germany’s 2001 winemaker of the year by Feinschmecker magazine! 

Werner Näkel continues to make remarkable strides in the production of red wine in the Ahr, one of the most beautiful wine regions in Germany…(imagine the dramatic slatey slopes of the Mosel condensed down to a Disney theme park scenic drive.)  We’ve been touting the accomplishments of Werner Näkel for two years now.  His Dornfelder has gained a following with its purple squid-inky color and exotically spiced blackberry fruit.  What wine clown wouldn’t enjoy getting hit in the face with a smokin’ black peppered blueberry pie like this (for under $20.00 retail)?  The 2001 Dornfelder is the most elegant, well-structured release yet, with its well-focused blueberry/blackberry fruit and spice lace.  Even better are the Pinot Noirs. Werner feels 2001 is easily his best vintage.  He won’t get an argument from us as the ’01 Pinots reveal a concentration, power and texture that previous vintages have merely hinted at.  His Pinot Noir “S” shows blueberry, blackberry, raspberry, cherry syrup demi-glace on a little venison steak topped with volcanic black pepper.  It has incredible weight and power on the palate, dense and silky, with a long, tobacco spiced finish and just a wink of oak.  It’s rare to see this kind of ripeness and extraction countered with such sleek elegance and nervy minerality…without being clobbered with an oak stoked forest fire.

Rudi Wiest Selections
by Cellars International, Inc.
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