2017 Riesling Rüdesheimer Berg Rottland

The Breuers commenced their 2017 harvest already on August 28, and Riesling from the Rüdesheimer Berg was brought in largely mid-September, all of which is extremely early even by this estate’s standards (though just as elsewhere, 2018 was to set a new record). Cellarmaster Markus Lundén reports that “there wasn’t as much [noble] botrytis as we would gladly have accepted in the Rüdesheimer Berg,” yet describes the harvest as “extremely difficult.” “The rain that hit at the end of August was in a sense the crowning of the vintage,” explains Lundén, because the Riesling vines were by then in desperate need of water; “but at the same time, in the heavier soils that rain led to less positive effects.” Rapid harvest and careful selection were thus required in many places so as to insure wines free of any ignoble rot. Accordingly, overall yields were down, yet those in the Rüdesheimer Berg sites were normal; and, as my notes suggest, by this estate’s high standards quality was marginally disappointing at the generic and Rüdesheim village-level, but on form from the steep marquis sites, with the Rauenthaler Nonnenberg being especially privileged.

The big recent news chez Breuer is that they have taken-over the Weingut Friedrich Altenkirch, traditionally considered the top estate in Lorch (bearing in mind that August Kessler and Eva Fricke – whose impressive Lorch Rieslings are the only ones on which I have kept-up in recent years – are not based in that village). Beginning with vintage 2019, the Altenkirch wines will be vinified at Breuer facilities, though they will continue to be marketed under their existing estate identity. This will make the Breuer team responsible for nearly 45% more vine surface, for a total of over 120 acres. It seems like a daunting challenge. But if any viticultural team is up to such a challenge, then surely it’s that of Theresa and her uncle Heinrich Breuer, cellarmaster Markus Lundén, and Hermann Schmoranz – who seems eternally youthful yet has for more than a quarter century been by turns cellarmaster, vineyard manager and overall operations manager. (Note that with the exception of occasional nobly-sweet, Prädikat-designated wines all of the Breuer bottlings are dry-tasting, and generally all but one – the “Charmes” – legally trocken. But I include “trocken” as part of a wine’s name only if that word appears on its label, which it does not in the case of Breuer’s top bottlings. For extensive background on this estate, consult the introduction to my reports that focused on their 2014, 2015 and 2016 vintage Rieslings.)