Terry Theise Germany 2013 Vintage Report

http://www.skurnikwines.com/msw/2013germanvintage.html

I left Germany for Oregon in mid-August 2013, so my firsthand experience of working the vintage is confined to everything up until that point. We all knew that it was going to be a bizarre year as far back as April. It was the latest bud-break and subsequent flowering in as long as anyone could remember and even in the Pfalz, it was evident that a November harvest was looming.

The silver-lining of the slow development was that there was absolutely zero pressure to get time-sensitive work finished (except for spraying of course) and we could really take our time making sure that canopy and ground-prep was spot-on perfect, as was the cellar-work for vintage 2012 that was still resting in cask and tank.

Another telltale slapped me when I visited twenty or so producers in Franken, Sachsen, and Saale-Unstrut in June only to see that they were weeks further along than we were -an historical exception. By the time I left, development was a month retarded and I was second-guessing my decision to move before I could see how it all played out in 2013. Luckily, I was rewarded with a vintage just as challenging, but for much different reasons here in Oregon. Never a dull moment in winemaking.

Talking with friends and colleagues back in Germany, Terry’s assessment seems about right. There was much talk of having to tolerate a little botrytis in dry wines (even those other than Riesling like Weißburgunder and God forbid Spätburgunder) and I’m sure that Südzucker cleaned-up with all of the chaptalization that took place at some addresses. But I’m eager to taste the wines. It has been some time since a truly small vintage (I mean in stature, though the yield is miniscule in ’13 as well) has come along.

Cheers,
Bill

[David M. Bueker]

Yeah, read this the other day. Lost of faint praise. Frankly I could use a vintage to pass on.

As always, it's difficult to generalize. Some Mosel producers appear to have some outstanding 2013s, others were less fortunate. I don't think it was all "small" either. Overripeness was an issue for many producers. I met Terry at Selbach-Oster. We both agree that it depends on the grower.

Last month, I was in the Pfalz and got to taste at Karl Schaefer and Jülg. The wines tasted fine.

Lars, that is a very good thesis. Very interesting read even at 2 am MT.

Thanks, Bob. I don't know if it's much of a thesis, but, rather, an observation.

[David M. Bueker]

I think "small" was meant to refer to quantity of wine, not ripeness.

I don't think so, as we have had very small harvests in three of the last four vintages.

[David M. Bueker]

Lars,

Here is a direct quote from the Mosel seciton of Terry's report:

The vintage is very small. Many growers made one-third of an average year.

That is clearly about quantity.

David, I was referring to Bill's comment: "It has been some time since a truly small vintage (I mean in stature, though the yield is miniscule in ’13 as well) has come along."

There's no doubt that 2013 was a small(-sized) vintage, especially on the Mosel.

[David M. Bueker]

Ah. Sorry.

Yeah. I hate to generalize and wouldn't do so regarding quality, but perhaps just the personality of the vintage. I'm just passing on what I've been told. Based on what I saw before I left though, I find it hard to believe that there was overripeness on clean bunches without botrytis to jack-up the Oechsle. A month behind in August and a cool finish to the season doesn't produce overripeness like we had in 2011, 2009 etc. But of course the site, yield, fertilization regiment, and soil cultivation choices would greatly influence the results.

Cheers,
Bill

“The silver-lining of the slow development……”

The vegetative phase (fruit set to veraison) and veraison phase was most likely slower (making things in the vineyard maybe a little easier, but surely not less “worrisome”- how long could or would you be able to allow the fruit to “hang”?). According to Terry some growers in the Pfalz complained about an accelerated maturation of the berries (accumulation phase) - “grapes went from green to over-ripe in the course of 36 hours”. (I guess the vine had to make up for some time).

Salute