Over €5000 was bid for a bottle of 1949 Rauenthaler Baiken Riesling Trockenbeerenauslese, and magnums of a 2007 Egon Müller Riesling went for over €1000 at the VDP annual auctions in Germany at the end of last month
The VDP (Association of German Quality Wine Estates) auctions, held on 26-28 September, are a barometer for the value of the top estates’ wines – both in the most recent and great older vintages.
Bidders – which include representatives from the domestic and export trade, and private customers – can buy in quantities ranging from half a bottle to a significant proportion of the total production of great Auslesen and above.
The ‘Grosser Ring Mosel-Saar-Ruwer auction was held at Trier. The two biggest bids were €1,117 each for magnums of Egon Müller’s 2007 Scharzhofberger Riesling Auslese Goldkapsel and €5,098 for a single bottle of J.J. Prüm 1959 Wehlener Sonnenuhr Riesling Trockenbeerenauslese.
At the Rheingau auction at Kloster Eberbach, a single bottle of Hessische Staatsweingüter 1949 Rauenthaler Baiken Riesling Trockenbeerenauslese went for €5100, and €650 per bottle was bid for Balthasar Ress 2007 Hattenheimer Nussbrunnen Riesling Trockenbeerenauslese.
At the third auction, at Kreuznach, €157 was bid for Meyer-Näkel 2006 Spätburgunder “SR”, a great Pinot Noir from the Ahr.
From Nahe a Schlossgut Diel 2003 Dorsheimer Pittermännchen Riesling Trockenbeerenauslese fetched €637 for a half-bottle.
The growing market for the great dry Rieslings of Germany was illustrated by Christmann 2004 Idig Riesling Grosses Gewächs 2004 from Pfalz which fetched €400 per double-magnum.
A Wittmann 2007 Morstein Riesling Grosses Gewächs from Rheinhessen, fetched €375 per double-magnum.
VDP sales worldwide have been spectacular in some markets. Sales of German wines above £10 have doubled in the last two years, and the £6-10 market has performed very well. At the same time, the cheaper – Liebfraumilch – end of hte market has performed very badly.
Written by Freddy Price
