Although a considerable proportion of all Rieslings from the Mosel are always vinified dry, the region is much more famous for its sweet Prädikat wines. Until a few years ago, hardly anyone would have thought of the Moselle when it came to identifying the best dry Rieslings of a vintage. Basically, it was agreed that the climate on the Mosel was rather too cool to regularly produce ripe, healthy grapes for first-class dry Rieslings that could compete with those from more southern climes. Where efforts were made to produce top-class dry wines, botrytis was often involved, and the wines, for example from Heymann-Löwenstein or Clemens Busch, tended to be more semi-dry than dry in many years. Interestingly, remarkable dry Rieslings kept coming from the Ruwer, of all places, one of the coolest regions in the area, but they rarely received the attention they deserved in the shadow of the sweet wines. The situation was no different for the best wines from a few wineries on the Middle Mosel, which have been making a name for themselves in this style for many years.
With the introduction of the Grosse Gewächse, there was a noticeable movement in the wine scene of the Moselle. Whereas the best healthy grapes had generally been used for sweet Spätlese and Auslese wines, more and more winemakers were now reserving at least part of these lots for the production of dry top wines. There are still wineries that use botrytis-affected grapes to give their wines more substance, and not every producer is comfortable with the idea of actually fermenting some of their best musts through. However, recent years have shown that most of the often somewhat thick botrytised wines with sugar levels at or slightly above the upper limit of what is permitted for the term "dry" did not mature as well as hoped and - with a few exceptions, especially from the Terrassenmosel - became rather plump than fine as they matured in the bottle.
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| Steep slopes on the Mosel (Source: DWI) |
Even today, the number of outstanding dry Rieslings from the Mosel is still small, but it is quite astonishing what level the best of them have now reached. For the second year in a row, some of the finest Grosses Gewächse in the country come from this region. If in 2009 the vintage could have been blamed for the exceptional quality of the wines, now at the latest it is clear that a whole new generation of wines is emerging here, the likes of which we have hardly known in the Mosel so far, but which we are likely to encounter every year in the future - in increasing numbers.
The outstanding wine today comes from the van Volxem winery. Roman Niewodniczanski's Rieslings have also often been somewhat broader and sweeter. This year it is completely different. Despite its concentration, the Scharzhofberger "Pergentsknopp" has an extraordinary tension and race, and at the same time a filigree play that can almost only be found on the Saar. Although the wine is clearly a child of its origin and site, it presents itself completely differently than one would expect in retrospect of the past decades. Looking at van Volxem's other Grosses Gewächse, all of which are among the best in Germany, one cannot help but conclude that the Saar's potential for great dry Rieslings has gone unrecognised for far too long. But not only van Volxem is an indication of this thesis, the von Othegraven winery is also playing right at the top this year with its two Grosses Gewächsen, and the two dry tops from forester Geltz Zilliken are also of considerable quality, considering that Hanno Zilliken has so far owed his excellent reputation exclusively to sweet Rieslings.
On the Middle Mosel, it is the Dr. Loosen winery that clearly stands out. Already last year, Ernst Loosen presented an extraordinary series of dry Rieslings, crowned by perhaps the best wine of this style ever produced on the Mosel. It was his Erdener Prälat that outshone everything in 2009. Although it is also excellent this year, it still has to admit defeat to its brothers from the Ürziger Würzgarten, the Erdener Treppchen and the Wehlener Sonnenuhr. At the moment, the immensely juicy and downright generous Würzgarten is ahead, but we are not sure that it cannot still be caught up by the Treppchen, whose coolness and tension impressed us tremendously. However, the wines are all not far apart, and we would be reluctant to pass on any of them.
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| Brauneberger Juffer sundial on the Moselle (Source: DWI) |
We were very pleased with the performance of the Bernkasteler Doctor by Wegeler. Until now, one has hardly ever had the opportunity to see the potential of this site in a dry wine. This deep, fine, almost self-contained example, however, makes us very curious about other dry wines of this class in the coming years. The Reinhold Haart winery is also well represented. In the past, Theo Haart's dry Rieslings have always attracted positive attention, but it was usually the Goldtröpfchen that stood out. This year, however, the wine from the Wintrich Ohlixberg seems to be even more expressive. Raimund Prüm from the S.A. Prüm winery presented two different Grosse Gewächse from the Wehlener Sonnenuhr this year, both of which we liked very much, even if the noticeable sweetness takes away some of the tension. Some bottle ripening will be necessary to see if they can tighten up further and then possibly score even higher. The two Rieslings from Grans-Fassian also need time. Gerhard Grans has also long been one of the producers on the Middle Mosel who have made a special contribution to dry Rieslings. At the time of the tasting, his Grosse Gewächse still seemed somewhat unassembled, which even a lot of aeration could not do anything about. Here, too, the conspicuous sweetness seemed a little out of place. Fritz Haag's Brauneberger Juffer-Sonnenuhr is as reliable as ever. Although this time the wine is not as elegant and fine as in the best years, it is firmly wrought and has an almost pithy character.