1996 turned into another very good vintage, something which seemed unlikely in early September. Even at the start of October conditions looked grim, especially in the Mosel region. However by late October the vintage had made up enough ground, and '96 began to look promising.
In the Mosel valley most growers did not begin their harvest until late October, and they finished the harvest in late November. Riesling fruit was very healthy and fleshy. Acid and extract levels were high and there was little or no botrytis. "Noble" sweet wines were difficult to achieve, very few estates succeeded in making BA and TBA.
As in the past few years the Middle Mosel did very well. In the lower Moselle valley and on the Saar the vintage consists primarily of Estate Rieslings (QbA), Kabinetts and some Spätlesen.
In the Rheingau
1996 is also very good vintage in the Pfalz, Württemberg, Baden (Kaiserstuhl) and Ahr. Franconia had an average vintage.
Since this incredible streak of good vintages began back in 1988, 1996 has been by far the most difficult. January, February, March, May, and September all had below normal temperatures. Between April and September there was a rainfall deficit of 37%, with similar shortfalls prevailing between October '95 and April '96. Budding occurred quite early because of a very mild April. April had 46% more sunshine than the long-term average for the month. Progress of the vines was hampered by flowering which occurred a week beyond normal. Continued sparse rainfall and extreme temperature fluctuations resulted in significant coulure dashing hopes for a plentiful harvest. Matters in the Middle Mosel got worse when several hail storms did serious damage, especially in the small town of Zeltingen.
By the end of summer the vintage had fallen three weeks behind the 1993 vintage. With the late start of harvest and the vines not carrying a lot of fruit, the sugar levels rose rapidly. By the end of harvest must weights in the Middle Mosel compared favorably with those of the '95 vintage. Acid, extract, and pH levels are significantly higher in '96 than in recent years. Some Eiswein was harvested around Christmas time.
Early tastings in February showed the high acidity levels in these wines. They are nicely integrated with ripe, forward fruit. The wines will require a little time to balance, but by the time they are shipped to the US in the fall, they will be very enjoyable.
1996 VINTAGE REPORTby Konrad Haehn of Von Schleinitz estate:
After a cold winter, the budbreak was late. The vines then had good weather to develop and went through blooming o.k. The hot summer with very little percipitation provided not enough rain for a large crop and healthy grapes. The grapes mostly did not fully ripen, which keeps acidity levels high. Nevertheless
a decent vintage in the regular quality levels, the high end is scarce. Crop in general was
very little. For us 1996 provided an easy to handle vintage because of the small harvest
and acidity is high but the fruit is solid. Drink soon.
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1995 is yet another very fine vintage, the eighth in a row from Germany. Nature is doing everything in its power to make sure people take notice of great German Riesling. It is again a vintage with very good ripeness marked by great acid structure. What is missing in some situations are the huge dessert wines. Overall 95 has many similarities to the great 1994 vintage.
The Middle Mosel in 95 is exceptional. In the lower Moselle valley and on the Saar and Ruwer 95 is very similar to the 93 and 94 vintages.Rheingau and Pfalz had an above average vintage. In Franconia and Württemberg it was an average vintage with slightly better results in Baden.
1995 was again a year of extreme climatic conditions. Compared to recent vintages the vines were often two weeks in arrears. The "golden" October weather brought a very positive conclusion to the vintage especially for the late ripening Riesling.
The winter was mild and wet with very little snow. Spring was rainy and the lack of sunshine hours in April resulted in a late bud break. A very sunny, mild May allowed the vine to catch up but it suffered a set back due to the poor June weather delaying flowering until June 27 which is even later than the long term average. Coulure, especially in the better sites pointed early to a small harvest which was worsened by the almost uninterrupted September rains. The very hot July / August weather (28% over the long-term average) allowed the grape development to surge and the start of ripening was only a week behind 1990 but way ahead of the long-term average.
Harvest began on October 16th (a day after the 1990 harvest) almost a week ahead of the long term average. The late summer days in
September, much like in 1994, showed a sunshine deficit of 38%, and excess rain of 34%. October had very little rain (60% below the long-term average), and higher than average temperatures. This allowed the late ripening Riesling grapes to benefit from these ideal harvest conditions.
On the Mosel virtually no grapes were harvested at QbA level. Many Ausleses will be declassified to Kabinett and Spätlese. Late formation of botrytis on the Mosel also allowed the production of BA and TBA.
Tastings promise wines that are quite similar in character to the 94s. The 95s show very ripe, bright fruit. Plus the wines are balanced by lots of ripe acids.
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1994 marks the seventh vintage, starting with 1988, of successive very good to great vintages in Germany. Does 1994 mark the end of this amazing string of seven "fertile" years ? The vintage produced some of the finest dessert wines in recent memory. Along with good ripeness the vintage is also marked by great acid structure.
1994 was a great vintage especially for the Middle Mosel. With the Saar and Ruwer possibly not quite up to the 93's but also with a great collection of dessert wines.
On the Mosel-Saar-Ruwer it was a year of great contrasts. Hail and Oidium caused great losses on one hand, whereas on the other hand there were many high quality wines in rarely found quantities, including Auslese, Beerenauslese and Trockenbeerenauslese.
Forgetting the record rainfall in December of '93, which led to severe floods in the Middle Mosel, the figures for early spring '94 were in keeping with the long term average. Water was in plentiful supply in the vineyards at the start of the vintage. Moody April once again lived up to its reputation. The first two weeks had night frosts, rain and snow. The last two weeks brought dry, sunshiny days with temperatures up to 81 degrees F which resulted in early budding - almost eight days ahead of normal. May was normal with slightly below normal sunshine hours. The first part of June was quite cool slowing the vegetation process. By mid-June, however, summer came on full-bore and the vines caught up quickly. Flowering occurred several days ahead of normal.
Record temperatures through mid-August accelerated the vintage which by then was once again, as in the previous few vintages, two weeks ahead of normal.
The promise of another great vintage was dampened by miserable, early September weather. Rain from the fourth to the 20th of September resulted in early rot which affected much of the fruit. Acids, however, remained high and stable. At this stage many growers were gravely concerned about the harvest.
The dry period that followed, especially the picture perfect fall weather throughout the month of October resulted in quality of fruit way above normal. Very ripe Riesling with starting must weights of 80o Öchsle and much of it over 90o Öchsle was common. The early botrytis set resulted in many great dessert wines that surpassed everything in recent memory. It is interesting to note that October sunshine hours were the highest in this string of great vintages and over 40 hours above the norm. Average temperature, however, was almost 2 degrees C lower than 1990 resulting from cooler nights. This explains why acid levels remained so high.
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With a string of superb vintages starting in 1988 and another great vintage in 1993 this report is almost becoming superfluous. 1993, is in fact such a superb vintage that it will rival 1990, and in some cases exceed its quality. Our initial barrel tastings in January showed very ripe, concentrated wines with a firm fruity acid backbone.
The start of the 1993 vegetation period was marked by extremely dry conditions after an arid spring with below average precipitation (120mm compared with the long term average of 188mm). Above average temperatures in April (12.3 0C/54.1F compared with the norm of 9.3 0C/48.7F) led to an early bud break in many areas, as much as eight days earlier than the historical average. Favorable weather in May (two degrees warmer than usual as well as 77.4mm of rain fall compared with a norm of 60.6mm) fostered rapid growth and good fruit set for the Riesling grape. Flower clusters began to blossom by the end of May. The good weather held, flowering was quick, and at this stage, vegetation was 16-18 days ahead of schedule. Negligible precipitation between early June and Mid July curbed growth and in may sites, particularly those with young plantings, there was some damage due to the water deficit. Relief came on July 19th, with much needed rainfall. The grapes thrived during the sunny and relatively good weather in August, resulting in another unusually early start of the ripening process. Abundant rainfall in September and showers nearly every day through mid October led to an early onset of rot in some cases, thereby lowering initial expectations. Nevertheless, the cool wet weather did less damage than anticipated. In good, steep Riesling sites must weights in the Spaetlese- and Auslese range were easily achieved, with an excellent fruity acidity. Later, Botrytis-affected grapes also were harvested by a few estates - a just reward for their patience.
In the Mosel - Saar- Ruwer region this was a significantly better vintage than 1992. Lower yields and very stable, high acids were factors that contributed to this improved quality. In top sites the vintage produced superb late harvest wines. Some estates in the Rheingau and Rheinhessen even surpassed the quality of the 1992s. Franken had the finest vintage since 1971. In Baden, Württemberg (by a considerable margin), Pfalz and Nahe also bettered the 92s.
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Lovers of Riesling wines will be pleased once again. 1992 is yet another fine vintage that can be added to the trio of exceptional vintages 1988, 1989 and 1990. It was a vintage that produced great quantities of Eiswein harvested very late mostly in the last few days of December and the first few days of January (1993).
For example, the dates for flowering and begin of ripening (veraison) in 1992 are almost identical to 1989 and 1990 and significantly earlier than the wonderful 1975 vintage. To carry the analysis further, we find that the long term average temperature for a vintage in the Middle Mosel is 14.360C. For the last four years 1989 and 1992 had the highest average temperature, 15.330C. Both 1990 and 1991 had equal average temperatures of 14.970C. Surprisingly 1991 had the highest total hours of sunshine, 1297, versus 1177, 1257 and 1272 for 1992, 1990 and 1989 respectively. However, 1991 also had the lowest rainfall, almost 70% less than 1992 and 1990.
Timing, frequency and quantity of rain for each occurrence, the concurrent water maintenance of the vineyard, which in recent years has been severely impacted by the long drought in Europe, all are significant and hard to correlate factors that determine total extract and total acidity with its mix of malic, tartaric and trace acids that all contribute to the character of the vintage.
1992 was a vintage, where the alternation of sunshine and rainfall and the vegetative development of the vines was almost perfect. The bud break was excellent. Flowering was early and went smoothly. The grapes developed rapidly in the almost subtropical summer. Occasionally there were dramatic thundershowers and most notably on the Ruwer a very serious hailstorm disrupted the progress of the vintage and potentially a drastic reduction in yield. The warm, humid weather, also aided the development of mildew and powdered mildew. In some sites this caused the foliage to become prematurely inactive.
In the Middle Mosel, harvest began October 14 and everything pointed to another great vintage with must weights already at the upper end of Spätlese, or Auslese quality. However, the hoped for "Golden October" was short lived, followed by a long period of rain that started on October 21. This time those leaving large areas of vineyards to hang for late harvesting, were losers in the game of harvest poker.
However, in areas where the harvest began earlier, such as Rheinhessen or Rheingau, most of the fruit was brought in before the rain. It is here that some truly great wines were produced. 1992 also produced enormous quantities of Eiswein in the last few days of December and first few days of January. Much of the Eiswein harvest was targeted for Auslese's, BA's and TBA's but the rain simply would not allow it.
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The 1991 vintage year was one of surprises and extremes. The winter, as has been for the past several years, was very dry. Vegetation got an early start which resulted in severe frost damage in the night of April 20/21 when temperatures reached minus 7C (19o F). Losses were especially severe on the Saar and Ruwer where over 50% of the Riesling crop was lost. In the best sites losses reached 70%. With the exception of Rheinhessen, the Rhine region was spared. In Franconia the frost ruined 30% of the Silvaner crop, in Württemberg the Lemberger, Trollinger and Riesling suffered big losses and in Baden frost damage was 25% across the board. The cool weather prevailed through May and June, which delayed flowering until early July, about 1½ weeks later than normal. Though late, flowering was effortless and fast with no detectable losses due to coulure (verrieseln).
With the cool temperatures in April, May and June, vegetation had fallen behind. Help came in July with very hot temperatures and some long awaited rainfall during the middle and end of the month. It stayed hot and almost completely dry in August. During this heat wave Bernkastel counted 31 days with temperatures over 30o C (86o F). Rain finally came in the second week in September. Without it the vintage would have been in deep trouble. The drought conditions in 1991 were much more severe than in 1990 (total rainfall in 1990 was 415 mm vs. 250 mm in 1991) and retarded the 1991 vintage greatly. Vineyards with shallow, light soils suffered more than vineyards with good water maintenance i.e. heavier and deeper soils. With damage to and resultant lower yields to the former, the latter often bloated and resulted in monster yields. Some properties in the Rheingau reported yields in excess of 150 hl/ha. Optimum harvest conditions were in the week and up to October 27. On the Saar and Ruwer with incredibly low yield some superb Spätleses including some Ausleses were made. Quality there is judged better than 1988.
The middle Mosel was primarily a QbA and Kabinett vintage with small quantities of Spätleses. Limited quantities of Ausleses even some BA's and TBA's were also produced. The night of December 10/11 brought some great Eisweins. 1991 is a better than expected vintage but not up to the previous three vintages with exception of the wines from the Ruwer and Saar. But there are pockets with wines that will surprise many. One particular characteristic of the 1991 vintage is that the musts are very slow fermenting and are very difficult to get completely dry.
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Great vintages in triplicate are unheard of in Germany's wine growing regions. Never in recorded history have there been three successful vintages in a row; there have been several successful vintage pairs such as 1920, 1921 and 1975, 1976 but never a series of vintages just completed. Subsequent to tasting almost 300 wines in early December, we can already say that the 1990 vintage will be better than 1989 and is the finest vintage we've ever tasted at this early stage.
The vintage began much like it did the past few years. A mild winter, followed by a warm spring started buds to sprout by the third week of April. May had very little rainfall but for June it was above normal.
Flowering was very early and complete by the middle of June in the Mosel region. Photosynthesis almost came to a complete halt because of very hot and dry weather through July and early August. This severe slowdown in the plant metabolism resulted in "natural" bunch-thinning and the eventually incredibly low yields. It also preserved the acidity in the fruit that remained on the vine. Good rains in the second half of August allowed ripening to begin by 8/20/90. The harvest started mid - October in the Mosel region and earlier in other regions. Late in the harvest brought botrytis, to allow the production of Ausleses, BA's, and some very rare TBA's. The first week in December was quite cold and on the 7th of December a number of Eisweins were produced. In general this was a harvest that brought very concentrated and ripe musts with unusually high acids into the cellars. This vintage has extraordinaryly positive characteristics: very concentrated, very ripe with very high acids!
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"In good company"
1949 - 1959 - 1969 - 1979 - 1989 - An interesting series of vintages that spanned the last half century. An attempt to put numbers on or to compare 1989 might be a little premature but early tastings suggest a superb Riesling vintage that will detract little from the above company and will surely surpass both 1969 and 1979.
After a mild winter, the new year began with a warm spring. Warm and sunny March had buds sprouting by 4/11 almost three weeks ahead of normal. April was cool and with double the normal rainfall delayed greening of the vineyards. After a hot May (50% above normal sunshine) flowering went smoothly in mid-June. By 8/20 the grapes started the ripening process. A hailstorm, in early September caused severe damage not only in Kinheim and Ürzig on the Mosel but also in Kallstadt and Ungstein in the Pfalz. September was cool and dry. The beginning of October brought the long awaited rainfall which gave the vegetation a big boost and greatly assisted botrytis formation. In the remaining warm and sunny days of October the harvest finished smoothly. It should be noted that the 1989 harvest was extremely labor intensive with a number of estates exceeding 500 hrs/ha (60% to 70% above normal) harvesting time. Not only did 1989 offer the best opportunity of the 80s to make BAs and TBAs, the last weekend in November in addition produced numerous Eisweins to top off the vintage.
1989 offers the broadest range of quality levels from QbA to TBA including Eiswein which is rare for any vintage. By contrast in 1988 the quality was pretty much centered around Spätlese and Auslese. The best wines in 1989 were made on the Saar, Ruwer and all the Rhein regions even though the middle Mosel can answer with some superb BAs and TBAs. 1989 for most areas, Graach and Wehlen on the Mosel excepted, is the best vintage of the 80s.
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After a relatively mild winter the 1988 vintage got off to a quick start. Buds sprouting by the third week in April and flowering by midJune put the vintage almost two weeks ahead of a normal vegetation cycle. In July grape clusters were found in a state of ripeness not seen since 1976. All were precursors for a potentially great vintage. This promise was kept alive by a hot summer with enough rain to keep sufficient moisture in the soil. This favorable mix of sunshine and rain showers brought a good amount of botrytis by midOctober. The Riesling harvest started on October 17 both in the Rheingau and MoselSaarRuwer. It was interrupted by several days of rain on 1019, 1021 and 1028. After each rain the picking had to be stopped until the grape bunches were dry and the must weights were recouped. These stoppages ultimately did prevent the selection of BA's and TBA's that at the beginning of the harvest looked like sure bets. Because of the rains a preponderance of the grapes were picked by October 27. A very cold night (12o C) on November 22 produced a number of potentially great Eisweins.
The wines were very aromatic, with very fine fruit laced with botrytis and ripe and fruity acids. Fruit was expressed more as peaches and apricots versus the usual apples and grapefruit character. Compared to other white wines of the world these 1988 German Rieslings will be top value.
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