Julian Haart

“Ever since my time at the Keller winery,” explained Haart in January 2018, when he acquired his parcel of Riesling in Nieder-Flörsheim and the Kellers simultaneously assumed Haart’s lease on the Piesporter Schubertslay, “not only have Julia, Klaus Peter and their sons Felix and Max become a part of our own family, but Flörsheim-Dalsheim has also become something of a second home for us. The limestone-rich soils of this sector fascinated us and we are delighted that now we can render Rieslings there.” Haart’s parcel is only a few hundred yards removed from Keller’s Pinot Noir vines in the same Einzellage and was acquired from the family of a former Keller intern.

The first results are in: two bottlings, reviewed below, and measuring roughly 300 and 150 liters, respectively. On tasting them, Keller reported that they had a certain recognizable Piesporter aura, quite possibly attributable to the ambient yeasts in Haart’s cellar. I am not going to claim an ability to discern such an aura, much less identify its source, given that other things are hardly equal. But the wines are distinctively delicious. Surprisingly, Haart reported not having made his initial pass on the new vineyard until September 27, with the vineyard-designated wine having been picked a week later. But then, this site is relatively cool by Rheinhessen standards, and it is not Haart’s intention to render residually sweet Kabinett from it, but only dry wine. And these dry wines from 2018 harbor surprisingly modest alcohol levels. (For background on Julian Haart, consult my reports on his Mosel estate in vintages 2014–2017.)