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Ökonomierat Rebholz

Hansjörg Rebholz emphasized not just the disappointingly small 2017 crop but also the challenge of irregular ripeness that was occasioned by April frost. So although a completion of harvest on October 10 meant that picking stretched over a mere 22 days and finished up four full weeks earlier than it had in 2016, this period actually involved quite a few days spent marking time while waiting for some of his top Riesling parcels to reach optimal ripeness for Grosse Gewächse. Since acid levels were high and delightfully efficacious, Rebholz elected to take advantage of the relatively early harvest completion to allow most wines a month longer than usual on their lees, with bottling times essentially corresponding to the estate’s usual calendar. That seems to have been a savvy approach based on my experience with a few growers who bottled earlier than usual, but more importantly, based on the delicious evidence in my glass. “This is a vintage we’ll still be talking about 20 years from now,” declared Rebholz. Incidentally, it’s also a vintage in which he was able to utilize a newly acquired basket press for certain charges of grapes. Although it was purchased for the purpose of pressing for Sekt, that naturally frees up the apparatus for alternative uses relatively early in the course of harvest. (For more on how Rebholz perceives the 2017 vintage and seeks to explain its high acidity, consult the introduction to this report.)

Since Rebholz senior had to absent himself soon after I arrived, I had the pleasure of meeting and tasting with his twin sons Hans and Valentin, who are now actively involved in all aspects of their family’s winegrowing operations. They expressed the belief that “every additional gram of sugar takes away a bit more of the wine’s precision and clarity” – definitely a fashionable opinion, though not one I reject solely because of that. (I once again tasted a range of bottlings in the Rebholz “R” series – for which the estate’s customers pay handsomely – and once again found them resinous and raspy from oak exposure. For much more about this estate and its vineyards, consult the introductions to my coverage of their 2014s, 2015s and 2016s. My tasting notes from the 2014 and 2015 vintages harbor considerable detail concerning vineyard sources and diverse geological underpinnings.)

From German Riesling 2017: No Pfalz Sense of Security (Mar 2019) by David Schildknecht

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2013 Extra Brut Riesling

Color: Sparkling White

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Ökonomierat Rebholz

2013 Extra Brut Riesling

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