drink now
A vintage characterised by rather lean, tart wines. The best came from the Saar and Ruwer
Weather Conditions
The winter was benign and the shoots were the size of a 50p coin when on the night of 20th April the frost hit. I left Germany the following morning and arrived in Bordeaux in the evening to see what seemed total frost devastation there. In Germany another frost a week later and a last one on 4th June took their toll. Ironically, the flowering though late, was perfect and from 1st July ten weeks of dry sunny weather left the vines parched. Unfortunately rain came towards the end of September, too late to allow this to be a great vintage.
Best Appellations
Many growers were able to make elegant, fresh Kabinetts, many of which are still delicious today, but little above that in quality.
Best Producers
A few estates, through meticulous selection, were able to made wonderful wines up to Trockenbeerenauslese. This was also the best Eiswein vintage since 1983.
