2024 Pre-Auctions Report: Trier & Bad Kreuznach - Songs of the 49th Parallel

BY ANNE KREBIEHL MW | SEPTEMBER 05, 2024

Prompted by a likely September harvest, the Trier and Bad Kreuznach auctions were moved to November–hopefully now a permanent slot for these key events for German wine lovers. The auction of the Grosser Ring, covering wines from Mosel, Saar and Ruwer, will take place on Friday, November 8, 2024, in Trier. The Bad Kreuznach auction, covering wines from Nahe, Ahr and Rheinhessen, follows the next day, Saturday, November 9, 2024. The chosen weekend, deliberately, is the one preceding the Hospices de Beaune auction in Burgundy; the intention is to attract more international collectors who might have scheduled a European trip anyway.  

These auctions, while still somewhat niche in the wine world, are gaining currency with live streams and international bidders. Last year, the Trier auction achieved sales of EUR 2,565,780.36 for its Prädikatsweine and just under EUR 100,000 for its Grosse Gewächse. The most expensive lot was Egon Müller’s lot of 3 magnums of 2015 Riesling Scharzhofberger Beerenauslese at EUR 19,992. Bad Kreuznach recorded total sales of EUR 2,422,304.44–the most expensive lot here was Keller’s mixed lot of three magnums at EUR 13,000.

View of the Ürziger Würzgarten at dusk in late summer with a calm Mosel.

Old School, New Term

The members of the Grosser Ring, i.e., the VDP estates in Mosel, Saar and Ruwer, met on June 28, 2024, for their so-called Taxprobe. In this tasting, the producers determine the starting prices of the wine lots in consultation with the commissionaires, the only people who can bid at the auctions. In some cases, they also decide which wines will be auctioned lots, some members showing 2 Kabinetts to determine the one that will be auctioned. This is a rather old-school process, and the discussions can be telling, but more of that later. This year’s Trier auction will be the 137th annual auction of Prädikat wines, which dominate here. It will only be the 6th annual auction of Grosse Gewächse from these regions. The Bad Kreuznach auction lots are tasted among the producers at a separate meeting in Monzingen, also attended by the commissionaires, but the producers decide on the prices themselves. Here, dry wines dominate.  

I attended the Taxprobe in Trier on June 28 and tasted the Bad Kreuznach auction wines on July 1. At the time, naturally, many of the wines were barrel samples. One or two wines were re-tasted during producer visits in the region in August and in Wiesbaden on Sunday, August 25, where the auction wines are showcased in the evening following the first day of the VDP’s annual Grosses Gewächs Vorprobe event. In 2024, two wines will be up for auction that could not be tasted due to rarity. However, both wines were reviewed as original releases by Joel Payne and David Schildknecht, respectively: