The Year of the Long Hang Time
An extended growing season in 2007 produced ripe, complex and fresh Rieslings in Germany
The 2007 vintage for German Riesling is one of the greatest in a string of successful harvests dating back to 1988. Thanks to a long growing season, healthy grapes and beautiful weather at harvesttime, the wines are classically proportioned, exhibiting ripe, complex fruit flavors, density with elegance, and a mineral streak that manifests itself from the first sip. For German Riesling lovers, 2007 delivers a bonus: Good quantities of these fresh, balanced wines were made by quality-oriented producers across all major regions.
The character of the 2007 vintage in Germany is best defined by its long hang time; the Riesling grapes remained on the vine for one to two months longer than usual. Combined with the perfect weather of an Indian summer, this hang time allowed the late-ripening Riesling to mature fully and develop complex flavors. Growers were able to harvest at their leisure.
"These wines are lean, but not thin," says Nik Weis, whose St.-Urbans-Hof estate in the Mosel made one classic-scoring and seven outstanding 2007 Rieslings. "They have this fantastic elegance, which the Mosel stands for. They are juicy, minerally and easy to drink. They are crisp, racy and have finesse. What I like in particular is that the smoky slate aromas come out very well."
If there's any drawback to the 2007s, it's their higher prices. The weak dollar has pushed prices an average of 10 percent to 20 percent higher than those for the previous vintage, with even greater increases in some cases. Nonetheless, the wines still represent fine value across the board. At the top end, there are a number of spätlese and auslese scoring 94 points or better in the $30 to $75 range. These wines cost less than many comparable-quality white Burgundies, California Chardonnays and Alsatian or Austrian Rieslings.
I was in Germany last April when the member wineries of the VDP, the most influential growers association, unveiled the 2007s at the Weinbörse in Mainz. Despite their youth, wine after wine featured the structure, depth and harmony that will allow the '07 Rieslings to be enjoyed for a few years after release and develop for decades in the bottle.
The vintage is at its best at the kabinett, spätlese and auslese levels. Rieslings like the Dr. H. Thanisch (VDP) Kabinett Mosel Bernkasteler Badstube (92 points on the Wine Spectator 100-point scale, $26) and the Joh. Jos. Prüm Kabinett Mosel Wehlener Sonnenuhr (92, $40) offer typical peach, apple and lime flavors, under-scored by a mineral intensity. Clarity and filigree are the hallmarks of 2007, and the delicate profiles of the best kabinette are heightened by their ripe, bright acidities.
At the spätlese level, the wines deliver added richness, yet retain the verve and snap that makes them so appealing. The Reichs-graf von Kesselstatt Spätlese Mosel Scharzhofberger (95, $34), with its rich, supple and tangy orange and cream notes punctuated by bright acidity, is a textbook example, as is the Schäfer-Fröhlich Spätlese Nahe Bockenauer Felseneck (94, $40), a mouthful of apricot, floral, tangerine and slate flavors.
Though even richer in residual sugar and more concentrated, the auslesen remain light-weight and mouthwatering, with a sweet fruitiness midpalate that should combine with the acidity and residual sugar and become drier with age. Look for the multidimensional Willi Schaefer Auslese Mosel Graacher Himmelreich (95, $111), which has a core of apricot and vanilla accented by orange and stone notes. J. Wegeler Erben scored big with its Auslese Rheingau Geisenheimer Rothenberg (95, $65), a plump, juicy Riesling that shows terrific harmony and interplay between its floral, lime and peach aromas and flavors.
Very strict selections of grapes also produced classic dessert wines such as the thickly textured August Kesseler Trockenbeerenauslese Gold Cap Rheingau Rüdesheimer Berg Schlossberg (98, $850), redolent of baking spices, and the sleek, racy J. Wegeler Erben Trockenbeerenauslese Mosel Bernkasteler Doctor (98, $480/375ml). At the beerenauslese level, standouts include the Balthasar Ress Beerenauslese Gold Cap Rheingau Hattenheim Nussbrunnen (97, $320/375ml), the Reinhard & Beate Knebel Beerenauslese Mosel-Saar-Ruwer Winninger Uhlen (97, $200/375ml) and the Jakoby-Mathy Beeren-auslese Long Gold Cap Mosel Kinheimer Rosenberg (97, $144/375ml). The first two exude thick textures and intense sweetness, while the Jakoby-Mathy is light-weight and ethereal.
There are many more top-scoring wines to choose from among the more than 700 German Rieslings from 2007 I have blind-tasted in Wine Spectator's New York office since my last report ("Extreme Riesling," April 30, 2008). More than 55 percent of the wines fall into the outstanding range (90 to 94 points), with another 49 wines rating classic (95 to 100 points)—scores that attest to the consistency of the vintage. The excellence in all major regions and at all quality levels earns the vintage an overall rating of 95 points. (An alphabetical list of all wines tasted for this report is available.)
Value-seekers will be pleased to hear that quality is also very high in many wines at the Qualitätswein bestimmter Anbauge-biete level. These lower-priced estate Rieslings offer an introduction to the world of German Riesling for those who are trying these tasty wines for the first time. The difference between the QbA and the prädikat levels (i.e., kabinett, spätlese, auslese, etc.) is that the former can be chaptalized (adding sugar to the fermenting juice) and so tend to be fuller-bodied. They also range from dry to off-dry in style.
The category delivers especially good value in a great year like 2007. Look for the Peter Nicolay QbA Feinherb Mosel Erdener Treppchen (90, $15), showing passion fruit, apricot and mango flavors; the stony, savory St.-Urbans-Hof QbA Mosel-Saar-Ruwer (90, $15); or the firm, slightly herbaceous QbA Mosel-Saar-Ruwer from Dr. F. Weins-Prüm (90, $17), with its white peach, fresh quince and star fruit notes. Reuscher-Haart's QbA Mosel Piesporter Treppchen (90, $19/1L) and Milz-Laurentiushof's QbA Mosel-Saar-Ruwer 180° (90, $19) both display balance and elegance, with mineral elements backed by vibrant structures.
The 2007 growing season was the longest on record. It began with unseasonable heat in April, which gave the vines a three-week head start compared with an average year. In May, hailstorms hit the villages of Leiwen, Trittenheim and Piesport in the Middle Mosel area, but the leaves took most of the damage and the vines were able to rebound without major problems.
"One can say that this year's summer took place in April and May," says Weis. "These were the warmest months of the year." June through August was warm but not hot, with rainfall varying from region to region. In fact, the heat early in the season made sunburn a problem in '07. Christian Witte, estate manager at Schloss Johannisberg in the Rheingau, saw 5 percent to 25 percent of his grapes damaged, depending on the vineyard.
Speaking just prior to the harvest, Johannes Selbach, whose family owns Weingut Selbach-Oster, noted, "Here on the Mosel it has been surprisingly dry throughout the summer, with just the right amount of rain at the right time."
Steffen Christmann, owner of Weingut A. Christmann in the Pfalz region, echoes Selbach's assessment, saying, "From August to November there was nearly no rain at all." September and October brought plenty of sunlight, with cool nights. This kept acidities high and rot at bay.
Harvest generally occurs roughly 100 days after flowering. In 2007, it was 120 to 150 days—even 160 days—from flowering to harvest. Furthermore, unlike the 2006 harvest, which took place over a three-week period, the 2007 harvest was a leisurely affair, spanning seven to eight weeks.
"In contrast to 2006, when the onset of rot forced us to bring in the crop as quickly as possible, this year's harvest began on Sept. 10 and lasted for nearly seven weeks, during which we harvested fully ripened grapes that had developed fine aromas," says Christian Ress, owner of Balthasar Ress in the Rheingau. Yields in 2007 were 20 percent to 30 percent higher than in 2006 or 2005, but only slightly above the long-term average.
The style of the 2007 Rieslings is a cross between 2002 and 2004. The '07s have the early-ripened, exotic fruit character and juiciness of the '02s, with more structure and mineral flavors. They resemble the '04s in elegance and finesse, yet offer more depth and density. The best come close in quality to the terrific '05s, however there are far fewer of the botrytis-influenced BAs and TBAs in 2007.
Yet the 2007s are more reflective of their designated levels than the wines of 2005. That year, few kabinette and spätlesen offered much less than the auslese level in terms of ripeness. The '07s are more like "true" kabinette, spätlesen and auslesen in style. This makes them very drinkable and refreshing. They will be delicious this spring and summer, and will also repay keeping for another seven to 20 years after that.
Looking ahead, the 2008 harvest produced wines with even higher acidities; because of cool weather during the summer, the key was waiting for flavor and phenolic ripeness. It appears at this early stage to be a successful vintage for the kabinett and spätlese styles, particularly in the Mosel. There was even less botrytis than in 2007, so there won't be many BAs or TBAs.
Stock up on the best 2007s now. Fans of the sweet, dessert-style Rieslings should look to 2006 and 2005, yet whatever your preference, there are plenty of top-quality German Rieslings available in wineshops and restaurants.
Senior editor Bruce Sanderson is Wine Spectator's lead taster on the wines of Germany.
