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Clüsserath-Weiler

Helmut and Verena Clüsserath’s vineyards suffered significant April frost damage, even in steep and upper sections of the Apotheke that have historically been spared. On top of that, there was late summer hail in certain parcels. “But in the final analysis, the crop loss was not grave,” reported Verena Clüsserath, in part due to the successful ripening of fruit that originated in secondary buds. The estate began picking on September 18, 2017 and finished in one month, even taking close to a week’s break along the way. Clüsserath expressed surprise that must weights varied little between steeper and traditionally earlier-ripening locations on the one hand and ones generally considered cooler and tardier. “In Mehring, where we generally begin the harvest,” recounted Clüsserath, “there was significant rot pressure; in Trittenheim, little. We could let the grapes hang longer in the steeper sites because the slate serves for superior drainage. But skins were sensitive and at first the temperatures were warm, so one had to process the grapes quickly – [pre-fermentative] skin contact wasn’t even an option – and we cooled the musts during sedimentation as during fermentation, which still ended up being rapid. A couple of dry wines fermented into January, but the rest of the wines were done before the end of November. We’ve never experienced such early completions. But then, one has to remember how early we began harvesting and the fact that the musts immediately kicked into fermentation.” (Like many other estates, following their experience in 2017 – and just in time, given how 2018 turned out – Clüsserath-Weiler acquired a chamber for cooling grapes.)

Most of the Clüsserath-Weiler 2017s were bottled in May, a month later than usual, to permit longer time on the lees and buffer acidity (although Clüsserath-Weiler bottlings frequently undergo at least partial malolactic fermentation). Clüsserath was delighted that this year’s dry wines ranged between 11.5% and 12.3% in alcohol, reflecting a welcome vintage tendency for must weights not to have ballooned, despite low yields. This year’s relatively weak showing at the residually sweet end of the Clüsserath-Weiler lineup is not so unusual from this estate, especially in recent years. The Clüsseraths emphasized that those wines, while they enjoy “playing around with them,” make up only a very tiny share of the estate’s production. An interesting development at Clüsserath-Weiler beginning with the 2017 vintage is the introduction of two sorts of machine to control weeds, so that herbicides will no longer be sprayed. (For considerable background on this estate, consult the introduction to my coverage of their 2014s.)

From Multifarious 2017 Mosels: Graach to Grünhaus (Apr 2020) by David Schildknecht

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2017 Riesling trocken

Color: White

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Clüsserath-Weiler

2017 Riesling trocken

2017 Riesling Trittenheimer trocken HC

2017 Riesling Trittenheimer Apotheke trocken

2017 Riesling Mehringer Zellerberg Terra Rosa trocken

2017 Riesling Trittenheimer Apotheke trocken Alte Reben

2017 Riesling Trittenheimer Apotheke Primus trocken

2017 Riesling feinherb

2017 Riesling Trittenheimer feinherb HC

2017 Riesling Trittenheimer Apotheke feinherb

2017 Riesling Mehringer Zellerberg feinherb Alte Reben

2017 Riesling Fährfels

2017 Riesling Trittenheimer Altärchen Kabinett

2017 Riesling Trittenheimer Apotheke Spätlese*

2017 Riesling Mehringer Zellerberg Auslese

2017 Riesling Trittenheimer Apotheke Auslese*

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