WTN: 16 x Fritz Haag

Oliver Haag of the legendary Mosel property was in Finland so we had a small tasting of his wines! Oliver was in genial spirits and eager to talk about everything vinous. I especially liked his comments about not wanting to make powerful wines and that the much heralded view of low yields and old vines might not be a good way of achieving the desired elegance.



We started with a couple Trockener. First was the basic, estate wine, Riesling Trocken 2008, which was really rather nice! Pure, lemon aromas; crisp but fruity enough to be a friendly wine.

Brauneberger Juffer Riesling Trocken 2008 is from Spätlese (approaching Auslese) weight, but Oliver decided not to put the Prädikat on the label as that would be confusing (IMO, making it even more confusing...). But the wine was very nice for a Mosel trocken (remember, I'm not really a fan of the style): concentrated, elegant, mineral and fruity enough that it isn't as charmless as most Mosel trockener I have had.

Brauneberger Juffer Riesling Kabinett 2007, 8,5% abv, was very open and expressive, ripe and sweet. Quite soft for a Kabinett - 2007 really doesn't seem to have the acid cut that I read it should have. But it is a joyful wine with enough acidity to keep it from being cloying. A pleasant Spätlese.

Brauneberger Riesling Kabinett 2008 was quite an awesome Kabinett - and it really did seem like a Kab rather than a Spätlese with Kab on the label. Lovely, refreshing, crisp, citric fruit. Racy and deliciously sweet, immensely refreshing and satisfying. Lovely.


Next was a flight of Spätlesen:

Brauneberger Juffer Sonnenuhr Riesling Spätlese 2008 was in a crisp, greener style, aromatically a little closed (Oliver felt, towards the end of the flight, that it might be a touch corked - I didn't notice that, I just felt it was a little closed). But the palate was really lovely, racy and high in acidity, sweet but refreshing and certainly not cloying. Too fruity IMO to be corked. I liked it very much.

Brauneberger Juffer Sonnenuhr Riesling Spätlese 2007 was also one that Oliver felt might be a bit corked. At first I got classic Mosel aromas, though not as ripe and forward as many '07s are. But with air, I also found a little mustiness.

Brauneberger Juffer Sonnenuhr Riesling Spätlese Auction 2005 was very nice, ripe and concentrated as most from this vintage are, but also lively and the sugar is beginning to integrate. But it isn't a racy or nervous wine, rather it is a fat wine. But a very good, fat wine.

Brauneberger Juffer Sonnenuhr Riesling Spätlese 2003 was strange: lighter colour than the younger wines and it smelled of mulberries. Also, it wasn't as concentrated as the '05 and '07 were and was a lighter style. I wonder, did Oliver's father go specifically for a lighter style? Or what is the reason that this vintage which should have been massive, was fairly light in comparison to the two more recent warm years? Quite pleasant for an '03, but I still preferred the others.


Next were eight Auslesen, first two "normal" and then six Goldkapsels.

Brauneberger Juffer Sonnenuhr Riesling Auslese 2004, light, bright and a bit closed aromatically, but wonderful palate. Electric, racy, lively, thirst quenching despite the sugar. Lovely.

Brauneberger Juffer Sonnenuhr Riesling Auslese 2005 was of course richer than the '04 but I was pleasantly surprised at how racy it was for an '05. It didn't seem to have as much excess fat as so many other '05s. Lovely.

Brauneberger Juffer Sonnenuhr Riesling Auslese Goldkapsel Erste Lage 2008 was clear, clean, racy and seemed to have more botrytis than most of the other Auslesen (the '06 excepted). Electric, great sweetness but impeccably balanced. Lovely.

Brauneberger Juffer Sonnenuhr Riesling Auslese Goldkapsel 2007 was a fairly heavy style, sweet, forward, rich, fat and perhaps a bit low in acidity (where did the myth arise that this vintage was crisp in acidity?). It will be fun to try this again in a few years when the fat fades and the structure (hopefully) will be more forward.

Brauneberger Juffer Sonnenuhr Riesling Auslese Goldkapsel 2006 was simply massive. Enormous amounts of botrytis, heavy, very sweet, more like a Beerenauslese than an Auslese. But it is pretty good BA, it just seemed out of place among other wines that really did seem like Auslesen.

Brauneberger Juffer Sonnenuhr Riesling Auslese Goldkapsel 2005 was clean and pure despite being very rich. Good acidity for the year - the fat seems to have disappeared well as this seems more balanced that it did in our tasting 1,5 years ago where the sugar and sheer weight made it seem rather too heavy. Very good.

Brauneberger Juffer Sonnenuhr Riesling Auslese Goldkapsel 2003 was, just like the '03 Spätlese, strangely light coloured and light in texture when compared to the others in this tasting. It also smelled strangely of mulberries. It was clean but soft, not as over-ripe as I feared - in fact, both '03s tonight showed as much more pleasant wines that I expected.

Brauneberger Juffer Sonnenuhr Riesling Auslese Goldkapsel 2002 was simply awesome! This had the sweetness and weight I expect of Auslese, but if there had been fat earlier (maybe such a "classic" year didn't when young?), it has completed a successful diet. Lovely, crystalline purity; racy and electric palate. Excellent.

What an enjoyable way to spend a Monday evening!

Great notes Otto. All those seaboard chaps are in bed right now but wait till the morning!

2 out of 16 corked . Haven't they thought of using screwcaps? I've heard that the German market is quite receptive.

[David M. Bueker]

2 out of 16 corked . Haven't they thought of using screwcaps? I've heard that the German market is quite receptive.

Some German vintners have, but many of the old guard (even with younger winemakers) have not yet started to make the switch. That said, the roster of those utilizing alternative cosures for at least some of their wines is growing. Gunderloch is the leader in this area, having gone totally to screw cap several years ago, with Strub, Selbach-Oster, von Hovel, Christoffel, Willi Schaefer, Kerpen (glass "corks") and many others making at least a partial switch.

Looks like a really fun evening, and one I would have been thrilled to be a part of. I actually have limited experience with the Fritz Haag wines, as they have por distribution in my local area. Was this in a private home? How many folks were there. I ask because I keep trying to get my own German group back up and running, but wonder about critical mass.

Oliver was receptive toward Stelvin. He has put his "lower" level wines from estate to Kabinett in them already and asked our group what we felt about the higher level wines. I am glad to say that our response was uniformly positive. But apparently some, major parts of his market aren't as progressive, so he hasn't adopted Stelvin throughout his range. He did seem open to the idea (and approved of Baumard's recent move) and has given thought to the different types of closures, so it might happen. But apparently it is too expensive to have two different closures to satisfy demand for all markets.

David, it wasn't in a private home but in one of the wine cellars of Helsinki. There were 12 in all in the tasting, and that seemed like a good amount for such a formal event - big enough pours that one was actually able to get a proper idea of the wines. Ideally I prefer a smaller amount of wines and participants .