Our first appointment of the day was an extended tasting with the gregarious August Kesseler. 2009, at this estate at least, is a vintage defined by his top quality dry wines, white and red. A superb selection followed, each wine showing its terroir but also a certain winery stamp of precision, finesse and detail. During an excellent lunch we tasted some really good Pinot Noir from 2007 and 2008; taut, linear yet ripe and built on minerals, fine tannins and spice. They showed just why Kesseler, the village of Assmanshauser, and in particular the slate soils of the Hollenberg are held in such high regard for Pinot Noir. They are not Burgundy, nor are they meant to be. They are something quite different, and all the better for it.
The afternoon saw visits to both brothers Haag. Thomas at Schloss Lieser and Oliver at Fritz Haag. Thomas would not pick out any particular highlights; he believes this is an outstanding vintage across the entire range. And tasting his wines from the basic QBA right the way up to an utterly scintillating Liser Niederberg Auslese Langhe Goldkap, we were loathed to disagree. The last wine promised great things, alas the TBA was still undergoing fermentation in the cellars, so was not tasted.
Oliver's vines in the monumental Brauneberger Juffer vineyard, in whose steepest heart lies the great Sonnenuhr, have done it again. Oliver describes 2009 as "a vintage that has more power than 2008, and perhaps more acidity than 2007". Here we did get to taste both BA and TBA, and we were not disappointed. Intense, brilliant with pitch perfect balance and huge levels of extract and acidity. They are quite simply sublime.
Our last appointment and it was along the Mosel and across the bridge to Wehlener to visit Manfred Prum. He has produced an outstanding set of 2009s, which even at the end of a long day’s tasting impressed us enormously. They are fascinating wines of great purity, backwardness, latent power and focus. They will require patience, but will undoubtedly reward those able to wait.
Tomorrow Schaeffer, Von Schubert and more......
