2022 Rheinhessen & Nahe: Rain in the Nick of Time

BY ANNE KREBIEHL MW | SEPTEMBER 28, 2023

This report concentrates chiefly on Riesling and Pinot Noir, as many estates also produce wines from other varieties. Where Nahe and Rheinhessen estates have made wines that will be sold at the Bad Kreuznach auction in September, the tasting notes appeared in a separate Pre-Auction-Report. A specialized report on Sekt, i.e. German sparkling wine, is also planned for later in the year.

The 2022 vintage evoked two primary emotions in winemakers across Rheinhessen and Nahe: relief and surprise. “If I had no background at all and did not know better, it would never occur to me that they are the result of a hot year – because the wines have a cool character,” said Frank Schönleber of the Emrich-Schönleber estate in Monzingen, Nahe. He was not alone. Many shared their misgivings over the summer, the relief afforded by reviving rather than damaging September rain, and their surprise at how the wines turned out.

Here is the background Schönleber referred to: according to the Deutscher Wetterdienst (German Meteorological Service), 2022 was the “sunniest summer since records began.” It also was the sixth driest and among the four hottest years since 1881. Historic drought in Germany’s west, low water and dried-out riverbeds, impaired inland navigation, forest fires and drinking water shortages were just a few of the headlines that dominated the news during a relentless and non-stop summer from June to August. In the federal state of Rheinland-Pfalz, home to both Rheinhessen and Nahe, 2022 was the second-hottest summer after 2003 on record and the driest and sunniest since records began. Indeed, listening to the local radio station in my car in July 2023, the news bulletin reported the forest fire drills undertaken by local fire brigades – on the 49th degree of latitude. This is where we are now. So, are the winemakers just putting a good spin on 2022 or is there more to it?

A view of the mighty Rhine from a vantage point on the Roter Hang, looking along the Rothenberg vineyard and further down to Pettenthal.

Rain Just in Time

Philipp Wittmann in Westhofen, Rheinhessen, describes the season: “It was an early year, a hot year, with a dry and hot summer. Budburst was in mid-April, and relatively early flowering started in late May/early June. Then we had summer almost immediately. June, July and August were warm, with hot summer days. It was interesting to observe how the vines weathered and survived the summer while it was so hot and dry. Grass was yellow. Only the vines were still green. Though the younger vines suffered, the old vines marched on. I think it was self-regulation. We had a very early harvest of Pinot varieties. It almost felt Provençal. We had rain on 6 and 10 September. It was absorbed well by the soil. You hardly saw that it had rained as the water was absorbed immediately.” This prompted a break in the harvest, which resumed for Riesling from 15 September to early October. “We were actually enthused by the quality of the grapes,” Wittmann continued. “But not by the yields, only 4,500 liters per hectare (the average is 55hL/ha) and in the top sites even lower. But we were compensated by great quality, very balanced musts, of course, with softer acids, not like the crisp acidity of 2021. It was rather in the mode of 2018, 2019 and 2020 – but finer in acidity with really palpable acids. I am amazed at how much freshness the wines show – which cannot be explained by the vegetative and harvest dates.” Like others, Wittmann also notes that the dryness meant low disease pressure. “On the one hand, grapes were perfectly healthy. On the other, the timing of harvest was really à point. We avoided overripeness. I am not a fan of very early harvest – harvesting before physiological ripeness does not make sense, but in 2022, you could really time this well. I love grapes when they have a golden shimmer in the green rather than a golden shimmer in a riper color. I think the lower yields helped achieve ripeness in this shorter vegetative period. The older vines were really resilient.” Wittmann’s account mirrors that of many: rain came just in time, and the harvest often happened in two stages – Pinot first, then a break, then Riesling – what is more, the weather turned. From the rain events onwards, cooler weather and, above all, cooler nights followed. The fact that the rain was absorbed and temperatures cooled prevented rot – but noble botrytis was also a rarity in 2022.

Surprise, surprise.

“Had you asked me during harvest how 2022 would taste,” said Hans Oliver Spanier of the Battenfeld Spanier estate in Rheinhessen’s Wonnegau, “I would never have thought it would turn out this way. It was clear that the wines could tend to flabbiness or lack of tension. That the must weights did not explode was a good sign, but I would not have expected this relative finesse.” Johannes Hasselbach at the Gunderloch estate in Rheinhessen’s Roter Hang said: “I am enormously surprised by the vintage; I am surprised by the freshness and elegance because I did not expect it. I was on my back foot. It was extremely dry. The vines started to show signs of stress. I was rather grumpy around harvest, but once the wines had fermented dry, the vintage finally showed itself, and I was so surprised by the freshness. We had great pH levels in the must, and the acidity is just a gram lower than last year on average, and the wines somehow kept their tension.” Karsten Peter of Gut Hermannsberg in the Nahe said: “The astonishing thing is that it does not taste like a hot year. We never expected this.” In Bingen in northern Rheinhessen, Erik Riffel of Weingut Riffel noted another effect: “It was not only dry and hot; there also was a massive wind. It was like a giant, hot hairdryer. This exacerbated that drying effect. Everything was reduced in vigor. We had the lowest yield of the past decade: 15% less than our average.” With relief still palpable in his voice, he noted: “The rain, when it finally came, was a total boon. Everything breathed again. The vines started growing again. There was another growth spurt. The shoots and canopy grew again.” Christine Huff of Weingut FE Huff on the Red Slope made the same observation: “The rain in September was miraculous: the vines revived, greened again. Initially, we feared that the grapes would split and rot, but they did not, nature seemed to soak up the rain, and the nights cooled down, which really helped.”