Mosel 2004 and others, lengthy

Hi folks My annual Mosel tour is a pleasant social event with old friends and acquaintances but also includes serious tasting and wine discussions. I did not have high expectations for the 2004 vintage, based on tasting notes and point scores primarily found in wein-plus, but was pleasantly surprised. This is not a superrich and low acid vintage like 2003, nor does it have the delicate sweetness of 2001. But I found, and a vintner claimed too, that 2002 is almost a twin. There is a certain austerity, a strong backbone of acidity but also a satisfying fullness of body leading me to believe that the best of these wines will show very nicely in a couple of years time. Any way, this is certainly above average, not quite up to 2002, but close enough.

As always the bargain hunter I look for the young and upcoming and a friend directed me to one, namely 31 year old Stefan Steinmetz of Günther Steinmetz, Brauneberg. Most unusual today all his vinification is made in the traditional Fuder, old oak casks. He butterted that most cellars and casks suffered from contamination of various kinds and therefore wines were not as good as they could be. He claimed that his cellars still were healthy and whatever the merits of that, his wines were indeed well made and delicious with the faintest whiff of oak as an interesting change from the pure grapeyness emanating from today's steel tanks. This may be a vintner to look for in some years time.

Martin Conrad of Brauneberg, who took over from his old man in 1997, did not match him for the first 3-4 years (a difficult task), but has now developed into one of the best from Brauneberg. His 2004 vintage is of a high standard and relative to the top league he has taken another step forward. No single superstar wine this year but a number of very good ones. Ah, well, the Kabinett was said to have 86 points - maybe a little overrated in my opinion, but the drier Goldkapsel wines of the Juffer and Juffer-Sonnenuhr vineyards were all very good, my favourite being the feinherb one.

From the selection of the Vinothek in Bernkastel-Kues a few stand out in memory. The St. Nikolaus-Hospital-Cusanusstift, always a reliable performer, had well made wines with less residual sugar than many others. However, wonder of wonders, my group picked the Moselland Wehlener Sonnenuhr Spätlese as one of the best of that level. It turned out to be a 2003... But Moselland? A huge industry producer? The one equally good to that proved to be a Veldenzer Carlsberg 2004 from Becker-Steinhauer of Mülheim. Grab it if you get the chance. Not outstanding but very good at a decent price from a seriously good vintner.

Do we only taste cheap wines? Mostly, yes, but there were exceptions. The Karthäuserhof Spätlese and a Wehlener Sonnenuhr Auslese from Wegeler were very good. Others liked Dr. Loosen Graacher Himmelreich - not me, never been a fan of Dr. Loosen.

The grand wine of the weekend was Erdener Treppchen Riesling Trockenbeerenauslese 2003 from Andreas Schmitges. Pre-auction (Bernkasteler Ring Versteigerung) the price for a half bottle was 70Euros... An outstanding example of art. 250 degrees Oechsle, residual sugar 330 grammes per litre... and did almost not taste sweet.. A wonderful balance, hints of just anything imaginable, from minerals to grapes to pineapple and papaya and mango. The taste lingered on for minutes... Sigh - a great wine. 95-98points was claimed but I find it hard to imagine what could be better. Another attention grabber was a Erdener Treppchen Eiswein 2004 from Stefan Lotz at Klaus Lotz winery. Extremely well done at an amazingly low price. This guy is pretty new at it but shows potential.

After tasting 155 wines (no spitting, tough business... :-) I've needed some time to even contemplate drinking any this week... but I feel the need rising again :-)

Anders