catalogue 2008 Mosel Wine Merchant Neustrasse 15 54290 Trier Tel. +49 (0)651 14551-38 Fax +49 (0)651 14551-39 moselwinemerchant.com Text Copyright © 2006 by Lars Carlberg Photographs © 2006 by Tobias Hannemann, fotolino.de Editor // David Furer Proofreader // Marisa Kristen LaValette I route (sic) for the underdog Chauffeur // Sebastian Graeber (Saab 95 Aero) No matter who they are Like the bankrobber Design // propeller, Trier, propeller.de In the getaway car Printed and bound // Druckerei Steffen, Germany —Bill Callahan (aka Smog), Text // set in Sabon singer-songwriter Paper // Evergreen (100% chlorine-free bleached paper) The author wishes to thank Stadtbibliothek/Stadtarchiv Trier for granting permission to reprint Saar und Mosel Weinbau-Karte 1868: Piesport-Dusemond (cover) // Ulrich Stein for permission to reprint the photograph from Bremmer Calmont // David Furer for his expertise and scaling back my rambled intro // Gernot Kollmann for his knowledge and insight // all family and friends for their support. GAV GmbH Managers // Stefan Löbeth, Alexander Rinke Mosel Wine Merchant is a trademark of GAV GmbH Mosel Wine Merchant (MWM) has ensured that all the information in this document is as true and accurate as possible, and assume no liability for misrepresentation, misuse, and/or abuse of any of its products. MWM encourages intelligent and responsible consumption of its wines and other fine beverages containing alcohol. Stein Riesling vines on Alfer Hölle Porta Nigra, Roman (north) gate in Trier Purpose Mosel Wine Merchant (MWM) seeks out growers with an artisanal approach of making genuine wines that show their origin, or terroir, to create our portfolio. P History In the 19th century, Mosel wines were favored and sold for more than the Grand Cru Classés of Bordeaux. The Mosel Valley, however, has more of an affinity with Burgundy with its meticulous vineyard classification and more northerly climate. Many experienced wine drinkers gravitate to red Burgundy and Mosel Riesling as the purest and most complex expressions of the vine. The red grape of Burgundy, Pinot Noir, has traditionally been found along the Mosel and still is today. Its finicky nature makes it a foil for skilled winemaking and great terroir. Riesling, especially in the Mosel, acts more as a mirror for its environment than any other grape variety—even more so than the noble Pinot Noir. The miracle of nature and the hand of man conspire to express Riesling’s potential for complexity and finesse. In both regions, the Napoleonic code divided and sub-divided estates over many generations. Throughout the numerous picturesque Mosel villages one finds many growers with the same surname, reminiscent of Burgundy. Moreover, vineyards were judged and ranked foremost according to their soil and exposition. Although the Mosel has no official grand or premier crus as in the Burgundy’s Côte d’Or, it does have a large number of recognized top-notch sites, many with old ungrafted vines (those with the original European rootstocks) that can produce flavors more striking and concentrated than younger ones.*Sadly, many plots in these privileged vineyard sites now lay fallow. To make some sites more workable, old vines were grubbed up to restructure hillsides, called Flurbereinigung. Vineyards The 1971 German Wine Law expanded certain unofficial grand cru vineyards, such as Piesporter Goldtröpfchen while simultaneously creating undistinguished collective sites such as Piesporter Michelsberg that took advantage of renowned place names (the village of Piesport) at the expense of nobler sites (the Goldtröpfchen vineyard). Many excellent Mosel vineyards without a famous village name attached, such as Wintricher Ohligsberg or Kestener Paulinsberg, are ignored or forgotten. * In the late 19th century, phylloxera, a bug that ruined most European vineyards by attacking the roots of the vine, had a less devastating effect upon its arrival along the Mosel in 1912. Hence many pre-phylloxera vines survived in the steep-slate soils without needing to be grafted on to disease-resistant American rootstocks—the solution after attempts were made with grubbing out or flooding vineyards. (Some vintners continue at their own risk to plant non-grafted vines.) The notion of judging quality based on ripeness (or must weight) of the grapes versus yields and location is a problem traceable to the institutive failure of the 1971 Wine Law. The law also grouped together many old place-names into legally defined Einzellagen (single vineyards), often expanding the core sites (Scharzhofberg, for instance) to incorporate less noble bordering plots of vine. This greatly reduced the number of single vineyards, but also took away subtleties within them. Kaiserthermen, Roman imperial baths in Trier “As a young wine merchant you The weathered slate soils of the best Mosel hillside vineyards, other than having the possibility try to help less well-known young of transmitting their minerality through the vines into the grapes, have quantifiable thermal growers to find the right consumers and hydric attributes. Similar to the stony sections in Châteauneuf-du-Pape, they release the and I admire the passion and the stored heat of the day during the evening, making the transition to the often chilly nights more dedication of your work, even if bearable for the grapevine. They also trap below them the moisture for use when drought in some cases, perhaps, our tastes conditions prevail, a more frequent occurrence in recent years. This works, however, only when differ...” the vines planted on these sites are old enough and therefore sufficiently deep-rooted, to reach the water below. —Michel Bettane Formerly, Mosel vintages lacked optimum ripeness in all but the best years. Global warming has changed this, but it has become a serious concern here as elsewhere. Although some wine growers prefer hot vintages, the wines have in turn become alcoholic, at least, for Mosel standards as compared with a decade ago and, if a grower picks early to avoid excess sugar and therefore potential alcohol, he runs the risk of missing out on physiological ripeness. On a positive note, many growers have moved to more natural methods in the vineyard. The French like to use the expression la lutte raisonée, or using chemicals only when necessary. Some German vintners have also shifted to organic winegrowing, including such quality growers as Clemens Busch, to improve the quality of the vine. Vinification A long-standing debate among German Riesling connoisseurs has been the use of natural versus cultured yeasts. One now often hears a wine-maker or -taster claim that the wine is spontaneously fermented or has pure culture yeasts (Reinzuchthefen) added. Some have made it their mission to bring this issue out into the open, because wine had become somewhat standardized, a phenomenon attributable to the overuse of added yeasts. Depending on the commercial yeast strain, Riesling growers reluctant to use natural yeasts found only on the grape skins or in the cellar have cleaner, more fruit-forward aromas. But the issue goes far deeper than this. The strict use of cultured yeasts typically entails less risk (no stuck fermentation); the wine-making is frequently more protective, often termed reductive. The wines tend to be clean, usually in a lightly sweet style from an artificially blocked fermentation. On the other hand, this has overshadowed other important issues such as vineyard care, yields, élevage, and manipulation in the cellar (e.g. must concentration). Wines made naturally with the use of indigenous (“ambient”) yeasts have an earthy nose while retaining a greater textural impression and aftertaste (or, goüt de terroir) than those that inoculate their must with cultured yeasts, which are “correct” but lack dimension. Many use unnecessary clarifications and add must concentrate to their best wines—a perfectly allowable practice under the aforementioned wine law. Minimizing exposure of the wine to oxygen and adding richness and sweetness are common examples of overprotective winemaking. Style Another cause for concern is the notion that German wines must be sweet to the taste or have a minimum amount of residual sugar regardless of the corresponding acidity, often in an attempt to appeal to the American consumer. At times the importer influences the grower to add Süssreserve, or sweet reserve (unfermented grape juice) to sweeten his wines. The importer also chooses to avoid carrying well made dry and medium-dry, as his customers have associated Mosel with sweetness. They claim that dry-tasting Mosel wines are an aberration, merely playing to German domestic demand for something drier such as Italian Pinot Grigio. The so-called “classic style” propagated by many has a lightness and balance between sugar and acids. Yet, why can a grower not make a naturally-made dry wine showing its terroir? These have more versatility at the table, especially with savory meals, and have a minerality and complexity often greater than the more famous sweet versions, for they have no residual sugar to coat them and subsequently disguise their true depth. Must Mosel wines be a cliché for a sweet wine requiring consumption only on their own, for dessert, or with Asian food? Before the post-World War II rush to technological efficiency, which brought us petrochemical fertilizers, sterile filtration, added yeasts and enzymes, artificial cooling methods, and centrifuges, traditional Mosel wines typically ended fermentation as dry or off-dry; malolactic fermentations often occurred