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J. B. Becker

The attribute ‘old school’ is often used loosely – but at J.B. Becker it is the only apt term. This goes for winemaking and labeling. Hans-Josef Becker, who will turn 80 in 2025, took over his home estate in 1971. The estate was founded in 1893 by his grandfather Jean Baptiste Becker. Hans-Josef Becker had already been working alongside his father since the early 1960s, training at the now defunct Graf Eltz estate in Eltville and in Geisenheim. Becker was one of the earliest post-war proponents and producers of dry wines in the Rheingau and has become a kind of cult figure – helped along by his devil-may-care personality and his disregard for passing fads and fashions. His desire to make dry wines led to yield reduction before many other people spoke about this, at the height of Germany’s technocratic heyday of the 1970s. Viticulture has long eschewed herbicides and the estate was certified organic in 2011. Becker farms 13 hectares, mostly in Walluf with some holdings in Eltville and Martinsthal. Seventyfive percent of plantings are Riesling, the rest is Spätburgunder and a tiny bit of Müller-Thurgau. In the cellar, time has stood still. Becker is proud to keep using the same pump he bought in 1976. All his Riesling is crushed and receives skin-contact overnight, sealed under carbon-dioxide, then pressed. The juice sediments for about 12 hours and is fined with bentonite to get very clear juice, which is then fermented spontaneously, either in wood or in glass fiber tanks, offering some oxygen exchange like oak but, according to Becker, at a slower rate. After that the wine is not fined again. He charcoal-filters botrytised musts because he wants the concentration but not the taste of botrytis. The Pinot Noirs are made in pressure tanks dating to 1952 and the 1960s, whereby carbon dioxide pressure helps to extract color and tannin from the grape skins. After pressing, the Pinots are aged in large Halb- and Doppelstück andStück. The man is as unique as his wines that are known for their longevity. Ever since 2003, all wines have been sealed with Vinolok. During my visit, I tasted the 2021 wines, the 2022 still being in barrel and not yet available for tasting, as well as some older vintages of Riesling and Spätburgunder. About 2021, he said “I had a very small harvest, there was much rain, and I had such problems with peronospora. For the first time in the history of the estate, I have not made a red Spätburgunder, just a rosé, and even with Riesling I lost 50% of fruit.” Readers should note that Becker makes a point of offering mature vintage releases. Becker’s wines are understated, bone-dry but balanced with extract, light but with ample depth.

From 2022 Rheingau, Pfalz and Mittelrhein: Before, During and After the Rain (Dec 2023) by Anne Krebiehl MW

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2021 Riesling Wallufer Oberberg Spätlese

Color: White

2021 Riesling Wallufer Oberberg Spätlese

2002 Riesling Eltviller Rheingberg Spätlese trocken

2021 Riesling Eltviller Sonnenberg Spätlese

2021 Riesling Martinsthaler Rödchen Auslese trocken

2021 Riesling Wallufer Berg Bildstock Auslese

2021 Riesling Wallufer Walkenberg Alte Reben Spätlese trocken

2021 Riesling Wallufer Walkenberg Spätlese trocken

2021 Rosé Spätburgunder Wallufer Walkenberg

2014 Riesling Kabinett trocken

2014 Spätburgunder Kabinett trocken

2018 Spätburgunder Wallufer Walkenberg Alte Reben Spätlese trocken

2019 Spätburgunder Wallufer Walkenberg Spätlese trocken

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