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2004 vintage report

The Vintage to enjoy every day

The 1960 vintage brought us back to earth after the glorious excesses of 1959, the vintage of the century. History never repeats itself but the same could be said about 2004 and 2003, though the growing awareness of quality, both among growers and consumers, over the last forty years has ensured that 2004 will be much finer than 1960.

After the small crops of the previous four vintages, 2004 has given us sufficient quantity to cover our requirements and stabilise prices. Although there was less sun than we had hoped (remembering the intense heat of 2003) the general temperature in the summer was higher than the average and there was sufficient water for the vines. The vegetation benfited from these factors and the hope was there for another good vintage.

Dry, sunny and warm autumn weather allowed the Riesling grapes to ripen steadily and the green vineyards invited us to postpone the picking for another three weeks, with the main harvest in November. The result of this, still risky, decision was sugar levels mostly in the mature Kabinett and Spätlese range with rich aromatic flavours, mineral expression and clean racy acidity. All this will guarantee spicy, lively and animating Riesling wines.

We started our first selection of grapes for Qualitätswein on the 18th October. The healthy leaves and bunches then allowed us to do a second selection, now used mainly for our dry Rieslings. From the 8th to the the 24th November we picked late-harvest grapes. After the opulent and rich 2003 Rieslings, we shall be able to supply fruity and juicy 2004s that will be attractive for everyday drinking.

Riesling Renaissance continues apace - have you seen Freddy Price's book with the same title, published by Mitchell Beazley, London 2004? After a couple of years in the doldrums the German market has begun to pick up. However, for most growers in Mosel-Saar-Ruwer, our Riesling wines have greater appreciation worldwide, even though the strength of the Euro and the weakness of the Dollar create some problems. In spite of this, 2004 will admirably fill some gaps in our list.

Sadly, we could not make any noble sweet wines in the 2004 vintage, because we would have needed some dry and cold weeks in November to make this possible. The miraculous Riesling Trockenbeerenauslese 2003 from the Brauneberger Juffer Sonnenuhr vineyard with 250 Oechsle is still fermenting (the 1959 took tow years) but we hope that it will have finished in the early spring, so that we can allocate this nectar in the traditional fashion. It just remains for us to express our hope for a really freezing night soon to pick our Helenenkloster Riesling Eiswein!

All the best for a merry Christmas and a happy, prosperous New Year!

Dr. Dirk Richter

Mülheim/Mosel, 8th December 2004

Eiswein harvest could be done on 21st Dec. 2004 at -10° Celsius. (for details please go to the German webside, hit "Geschichte" and "Mülheimer Helenenkloster").

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