Germany 2008: Crisp, Pure and Refreshing

Any winemaker who did not make good 2007s should probably change careers: in terms of climate, it was a cake walk. The 2008 growing season, on the other hand, was a roller coaster ride from start to finish. Anyone who was not attentive, and especially those who harvested too early, made acceptable wines at best. Far too many, though, were thin, acidic and even bitter.

The 2008 growing season. A cool spring followed a warm winter. Both bud break and flowering, the latter often accompanied by rain, which decreased potential volume, occurred as much as two weeks later than usual. Although the summer was warmer, it was accompanied by hefty rains, flooding, and in some areas devastating hail storms. Only August was in any way normal. On its heels followed a cool, moist September that forced the better estates to postpone the start of the harvest until well into October. Most did not finish until mid-November—or, for those making eiswein, until December 30, when the temperatures finally fell to almost -10oC.

As in other challenging vintages, quality was uneven from region to region and estate to estate—and even within the collection of a single producer. Some wineries that made a stunning dry riesling or an excellent spätlese often had an entry-level wine or two that was, at most, sub-par.

Even among the wines harvested as late as November, it was not a year for noble, botrytized rieslings. Some estates made only dry wines and many made little or nothing beyond spätlese. Even when they did, the ausleses were often not better than the spätleses or, sometimes, even the kabinetts. As most Germans drink primarily dry wines today anyway, this was not a problem for the domestic market. The export markets, however, will certainly revel in the wide range of classical kabinetts made in 2008.

In a nutshell, 2008 was nonetheless a potentially great year for the patient producer who knew how to take advantage of the idiosyncrasies of the vintage. From the kabinetts on the Mosel to the Grosses Gewächs in the Pfalz, there were plenty of excellent wines, with kudos going to Molitor on the Mosel, Schäfer-Fröhlich on the Nahe, Leitz in the Rheingau, Keller in Rheinhessen and Bürklin-Wolf in the Pfalz for the most successful overall collections.