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Knebel

Matthias Knebel has endured some commercially difficult recent vintages (though he characterized himself as having “caught a well-deserved break” from Mother Nature in 2015), so I was relieved when he commenced his account of 2017 by saying, “I’ve heard a great deal from other growers about how difficult this vintage was, but for me it was a lovely one.” For starters, the April frost wreaked less havoc in the dramatically steep terraces that characterize Knebel’s stretch of the Mosel (just before it reaches the Rhine) than they did elsewhere, and the top sites – Röttgen and Uhlen – were largely spared. Despite the notorious susceptibility of his Lower Mosel sites to drought stress, there seems to have been just enough summer precipitation to stave off vine shutdown or worse. Due to the onset of botrytis in September, picking commenced on the 25th of that month and had to be highly selective, particularly since rot was often hidden within the clusters. But Matthias’ mother Beate worked even more than her usual magic in leading the search for noble botrytis, which was selected out in the first 10 days of harvest, resulting in a trio of Auslesen and a heart-stopping Trockenbeerenauslese. Knebel’s satisfaction with vintage 2017 is entirely understandable given this collection’s high quality across the board, but it needs to be put into perspective: the 30 hectoliters per hectare that the Knebels averaged in 2017 would leave most Mosel growers grumbling about penury! Sweet wines and Gutsriesling were bottled in April, “Von den Terrassen” in May and the legally dry wines in mid- to late summer 2018. (For extensive background on this estate, consult the introductions to my account of its 2014s, 2015s and 2016s. Note that its founders’ first names – “Reinhard & Beate” – are no longer part of this estate’s official name, although Beate Knebel remains active in its operation, decisively so in matters of botrytis selection.)

From Multifarious 2017 Mosels, Part 1: Winningen to Wehlen (Jan 2020) by David Schildknecht

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2017 Riesling

Release Price: $23

Color: White

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2017 Riesling von den Terrassen

Release Price: $31

Color: White

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Color: Sweet White

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2017 Riesling Winninger Röttgen Trockenbeerenauslese

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Knebel

2017 Riesling

2017 Riesling von den Terrassen

2017 Riesling von den Terrassen R

2017 Riesling Winninger Alte Reben

2017 Riesling Winninger Rottgen Grosses Gewächs

2017 Riesling Winninger Uhlen Grosses Gewächs

2017 Riesling Winninger Rottgen Kabinett

2017 Riesling Winninger Röttgen Auslese

2017 Riesling Winninger Uhlen Auslese

2017 Riesling Winninger Röttgen Auslese Goldkapsel

2017 Riesling Winninger Röttgen Trockenbeerenauslese

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