Hi folks.
Following my annual excursion to the middle Mosel you may now have my
impressions :-)
On 2001:
That vintage reconfirmed it's position as one of the most charming and
attractive Spätlese vintages ever. These wines were virtually unchanged
from last year and so would appear to keep well for some time. The Auslese
wines were somewhat less consistent last year, imho, and still are. Those
that were good then now did fairly well with a little bit of added
smoothness and maturity. Not bad at all, but I still prefer those
Spätleses, for some reason.
On 2002:
Another good vintage with fine quality from QbA to Beerenauslese level.
There seemed to be a bit of inconsistency however, as many growers offered
the full range from pedestrian mediocrity to outstanding specimens of wine
making without any relationship to quality classing. With one, his Kabinett
was glorious, his Auslese unremarkable, with another it could be the other
way around. Another would have very fine dry wines and less appealing sweet
ones where yet another had the opposite. It would appear then that this
vintage had been more difficult for the growers to handle well. Careful
selection therefore seemed more important than for 2001.
Compared to the previously mentioned Spätleses many of the more succesful
wines seemed to me to have an added layer of complexity and hidden nuances
begging exploration in the years to come and there were some very good
Beerenausleses and Eiswein.
The classing Prädikat system also seem to be crumbling, making it less
useful as a buying guide - you have to taste the wine, read the label
carefully and ask the wine maker outright to make sure what you really get -
at one point I bought a dry Kabinett, which by itself would have been an
abomination, but that had 12% of alcohol and so really was a lean Auslese
(the grower confirmed it was 95 Oechsle...).
It is also notable that prices have risen all over. The once almost
implausible bargains that were the rule with top Germans are now harder to
find. Top Auslese and above now command about the same prices in Euros that
they once did in Marks, in fact a doubling in 4 years.
On 2003:
The grapes survived the spectacular heat of this summer up to late august
and looked very good. Quite a bit of rain and cold weather in September
have pumped them up to bursting some growers said, however, and they prayed
for dry and sunny weather till mid-October (this was 2 weeks ago) so that
excess water might evaporate and thereby raise sugar and acid levels. It
would seem that we run a small risk of having diluted and flat wines,
relatively speaking, but many were fairly confident that another usable
vintage was in the offing. Time will show. Otherwise, harvest of lesser
wine was well under way then, pretty early, but I've no info on these
grapes.
Fwiw,
Anders


--
antispam: personal part of real mailaddress is backwards...

Anders,
Thanks for such a detailed look at the last 3 vintages. Any special wines that
jumped out at you in the 2002s? Especially interested, obviously, in wines with
good distribution in US. I know that's not info that you would have collected.
But I'd be especially interested in any wines to look out for from:
Christoffel
Selbach-Oster
Kerpen
JJ Prum
Dr. H. Thanisch (Erben)
Dr. Fischer
Meulenhof
St. Urbans-Hof
Reichsgraff von Kesselstatt
Mönchhof
A lot of these wines have relatively small production, and as interest in US
hasd grown (one reason for the price increases you note, for instance), lots
become unattainable right after release, especially if they garner the dreaded
points. I've got enough faith in your Mosel notes to do prearrival on
Christoffel or Prum, wines that sell out quickly, if you recommended one.
Dale

Dale Williams
Drop "damnspam" to reply

"Dale Williams" > wrote in message
...
> But I'd be especially interested in any wines to look out for from:
> Christoffel
> Selbach-Oster
> Kerpen
> JJ Prum
> Dr. H. Thanisch (Erben)
> Dr. Fischer
> Meulenhof
> St. Urbans-Hof
> Reichsgraff von Kesselstatt
> Mönchhof
Hi Dale
I usually seek out the best from the minor producers which at times even
surpasses the above mentioned that tend to be rather more expensive... :-)
So, this time I didn't actually have any of these, I'm afraid.
Fwiw, some of my sources claim that Christoffel and Mönchhof (same owner)
both are in a slight decline while Selbach-Oster, von Kesselstatt and St.
Urbans-Hof are performing very well. Meulenhof has been a bit off form
lately but did well in 2001 I've seen.
Apart from these I had a very good Graacher Himmelreich Auslese 2002 from
Kees-Kieren at 11Euro. Their ** Auslese was even a little bit better at
18Euro and might be found in the U.S? If you see any Kanzlerhof of Pölich
there is a good buy! So is Becker-Steinhauer of Mülheim - but I guess they
won't be available where you are.
The Eiswein from Martin Conrad at Brauneberger Hof (a Veldenzer Kirchberg)
is outstanding (38Euro for a half bottle) but limited (100litres in
total...) so I'd guess very little if any goes beyond Germany :-)
Finally, Willy Schäfer of Graach has been somewhat off form in 2000 and 2001
and spotty in 2002 - the Domprobst Auslese 2002 is excellent however, but
rather pricey at 32Euros.
Anders

In article >, "Anders Tørneskog"
> writes:

Thanks Anders,

>I usually seek out the best from the minor producers which at times even
>surpasses the above mentioned that tend to be rather more expensive... :-)

I'll be sure to ask for recs if I travel to the Mosel, but for now I'm limited
to those that import to the states.

>Fwiw, some of my sources claim that Christoffel and Mönchhof (same owner)
>both are in a slight decline

Hmmm, I think Hans Leo still owns Christoffel, but has hired Eymael from
Mönchhof as winemaker. Actually I've tried a couple of '02 Christoffels, if
that's decline....wow. Great Ur. Wurz kabinett. Thanks for word on producers.

>Apart from these I had a very good Graacher Himmelreich Auslese 2002 from
>Kees-Kieren at 11Euro. Their ** Auslese was even a little bit better at
>18Euro and might be found in the U.S?
Will keep an eye out.

Kanzlerhof of Pölich Becker-Steinhauer of Mülheim - but I guess they
>won't be available where you are.

I've never seen any of those in States.

Thans for the info!
Dale

Dale Williams
Drop "damnspam" to reply

"Dale Williams" > wrote in message
...
> In article >, "Anders Tørneskog"
> > writes:
>
> Hmmm, I think Hans Leo still owns Christoffel, but has hired Eymael from
> Mönchhof as winemaker. Actually I've tried a couple of '02 Christoffels,
if
> that's decline....wow. Great Ur. Wurz kabinett. Thanks for word on
producers.
>
Hi Dale,
checked it up: Robert Eymael *is* the owner and Hans Leo, in
semi-retirement, assists in the winemaking.
Anders

amnspam (Dale Williams) wrote in
:

> In article >, "Anders
> Tørneskog" > writes:
>
>
>
>>Fwiw, some of my sources claim that Christoffel and Mönchhof (same
>>owner) both are in a slight decline
>
> Hmmm, I think Hans Leo still owns Christoffel, but has hired Eymael
> from Mönchhof as winemaker. Actually I've tried a couple of '02
> Christoffels, if that's decline....wow. Great Ur. Wurz kabinett.
> Thanks for word on producers.
>


In the 2003 Germany cataloge Terry Thiese included the following about the
Christeffel/Eymael relationship:


Having no heirs on the horizon,
he has leased his vineyards and winery to Robert Eymael (from Mönchhof).
This does not signal
the demise of Weingut Joh. Jos. Christoffel. Eymael intends to keep the two
sets of wines strictly
separate, harvested separately (even pressed in Christoffel’s press and
vinified in his casks) and
marketed under the current label to me, with Hans Leo as
consulting something-or-other!


It sounds like the relationship is somewhere between the two prior notes.

John

Anders Tørneskog wrote:

> Hi folks.
> Following my annual excursion to the middle Mosel you may now have my
> impressions :-)
> On 2001:
> That vintage reconfirmed it's position as one of the most charming and
> attractive Spätlese vintages ever. These wines were virtually unchanged
> from last year and so would appear to keep well for some time. The
> Auslese wines were somewhat less consistent last year, imho, and still
> are. Those that were good then now did fairly well with a little bit of
> added
> smoothness and maturity. Not bad at all, but I still prefer those
> Spätleses, for some reason.
> On 2002:
> Another good vintage with fine quality from QbA to Beerenauslese level.
> There seemed to be a bit of inconsistency however, as many growers offered
> the full range from pedestrian mediocrity to outstanding specimens of wine
> making without any relationship to quality classing. With one, his
> Kabinett was glorious, his Auslese unremarkable, with another it could be
> the other
> way around. Another would have very fine dry wines and less appealing
> sweet
> ones where yet another had the opposite. It would appear then that this
> vintage had been more difficult for the growers to handle well. Careful
> selection therefore seemed more important than for 2001.
> Compared to the previously mentioned Spätleses many of the more succesful
> wines seemed to me to have an added layer of complexity and hidden nuances
> begging exploration in the years to come and there were some very good
> Beerenausleses and Eiswein.
> The classing Prädikat system also seem to be crumbling, making it less
> useful as a buying guide - you have to taste the wine, read the label
> carefully and ask the wine maker outright to make sure what you really get
> - at one point I bought a dry Kabinett, which by itself would have been an
> abomination, but that had 12% of alcohol and so really was a lean Auslese
> (the grower confirmed it was 95 Oechsle...).
> It is also notable that prices have risen all over. The once almost
> implausible bargains that were the rule with top Germans are now harder to
> find. Top Auslese and above now command about the same prices in Euros
> that they once did in Marks, in fact a doubling in 4 years.
> On 2003:
> The grapes survived the spectacular heat of this summer up to late august
> and looked very good. Quite a bit of rain and cold weather in September
> have pumped them up to bursting some growers said, however, and they
> prayed for dry and sunny weather till mid-October (this was 2 weeks ago)
> so that excess water might evaporate and thereby raise sugar and acid
> levels. It would seem that we run a small risk of having diluted and flat
> wines, relatively speaking, but many were fairly confident that another
> usable
> vintage was in the offing. Time will show. Otherwise, harvest of lesser
> wine was well under way then, pretty early, but I've no info on these
> grapes.
> Fwiw,
> Anders
>
>
> --
> antispam: personal part of real mailaddress is backwards...

Hello Anders, yes the german quality system with qulitätswein, Kabinet
Spaetlese Auslese, Beerenauslese and Trockenbeerenauslese is a nightmare.
You can not only specify the quality of wine by degrees of oechsle.
At the other Hand, many vinemakers downgrade Auslese to Spaetlese ...
On My opinion The Mosel you can finde a lot of mainstream stuff (supermarket
quality, 80% and relatively few middleclass winemakers but also relatively
much world class winemakers (JJ Prüm, Scharzhof Egon Mueller, Fritz Haag,
Dr. Loosen, Molitor,

If you speak a little bit German, I can suggest you the following links

www.wein-plus.de
(Excellent German weinguide with a big database about German and Austrian
wines) and
www.weinguide.de

Gault Milleau 2002 Wein guide Germany.

My favorits for bargains comes from the Mittelrhein (August Perll) and
Florian Weingart.

Ok the ammount of grapes per hectar is a little bit big from this vineyards
but for the price......

To travell along the rhine (accross the lorely) is very funny....

Best regards
--
Columbo

"Uwe Herdel" > wrote in message
...
> Anders Tørneskog wrote:
>
> www.wein-plus.de
> (Excellent German weinguide with a big database about German and Austrian
> wines) and
Hallo Uwe - ich habe schon ein Abo da!
beste Grüsse
Anders

Just last evening I returned form my annual trip to Germany. By the end of
this weekend most of the harvest will be over. It looks like a truly
outstanding year for the MSR and Rheingau. I visited with most of the
estates shown on your list and all were very happy with what is coming in
from the vineyards. While it is really too early to give a definitive
reading on the results of the harvest it appears that there will be a
limited amount of QBA and Kabinett wines because of the very high must
weights. This might be mitigated by some of the better producers who will
declassify some of their wines. This year for the first time German Wine Law
will allow producers to acidify their wines. All of the producers I visited
said that they will not do this as they want the wines to be just what they
are. I suspect that some of the lesser and bulk producers will do this to
get their Kabinetts and QBA. I tasted many outstanding vintage 2002 wines
and while they, for the most part do not have the extract of the 2001 wines
I find many of them are more elegant than 2001. This view is also shared by
many of the producers I visited in the Rheingau. As to the J.J. Christoffel
wines; they are all being made by Robert Eymael at his estate. All of the
barrels and equipment that Hans used were moved to Robert Eymael's estate. I
was there when the move was made. and spent time with both Robert and Hans.
Hans still, with some difficulty, is still trying to oversee the wines that
bear his name. While still very good they are not the same.



"Anders Tørneskog" > wrote in message
...
>
> "Dale Williams" > wrote in message
> ...
> > But I'd be especially interested in any wines to look out for from:
> > Christoffel
> > Selbach-Oster
> > Kerpen
> > JJ Prum
> > Dr. H. Thanisch (Erben)
> > Dr. Fischer
> > Meulenhof
> > St. Urbans-Hof
> > Reichsgraff von Kesselstatt
> > Mönchhof
> Hi Dale
> I usually seek out the best from the minor producers which at times even
> surpasses the above mentioned that tend to be rather more expensive... :-)
> So, this time I didn't actually have any of these, I'm afraid.
> Fwiw, some of my sources claim that Christoffel and Mönchhof (same owner)
> both are in a slight decline while Selbach-Oster, von Kesselstatt and St.
> Urbans-Hof are performing very well. Meulenhof has been a bit off form
> lately but did well in 2001 I've seen.
> Apart from these I had a very good Graacher Himmelreich Auslese 2002 from
> Kees-Kieren at 11Euro. Their ** Auslese was even a little bit better at
> 18Euro and might be found in the U.S? If you see any Kanzlerhof of Pölich
> there is a good buy! So is Becker-Steinhauer of Mülheim - but I guess
they
> won't be available where you are.
> The Eiswein from Martin Conrad at Brauneberger Hof (a Veldenzer Kirchberg)
> is outstanding (38Euro for a half bottle) but limited (100litres in
> total...) so I'd guess very little if any goes beyond Germany :-)
> Finally, Willy Schäfer of Graach has been somewhat off form in 2000 and
2001
> and spotty in 2002 - the Domprobst Auslese 2002 is excellent however, but
> rather pricey at 32Euros.
> Anders
>
>
>