2017 Riesling Spätlese trocken Alte Reben

General manager Julia Lübcke and estate veteran Sascha Dannhäuser continue to radiate optimism in their efforts to revive this estate, though what success they had in 2017 was scored in the face of considerable adversity, as a good third of what they had anticipated harvesting from the Karthäuserhofberg itself was lost to frost, hungry boars and an eventual need for selective harvest. “We began on September 25 and took a full month to harvest,” related Dannhäuser. “It was typically two days of picking, then two or three days laying out waiting for optimum weather,” a pace quite in contrast with that of most Mosel estates in this vintage. Perhaps greater clarity and depth will come with bottle age, but for now, results – particularly in the overtly sweet sector of the estate’s portfolio – are somewhat disappointing. Happily, just as at neighboring von Beulwitz and Karlsmühle, things look up in 2018, renewing one’s impression of an estate on the rebound. In addition to the wines reviewed below, there is also a Beerenauslese from the Karthäuserhof in 2017, but the team preferred to delay its unveiling.

Given the penury of vintage 2017 yields, it was lucky timing that proprietor Albert Behler had decided to expand the Karthäuserhof estate beyond its traditional boundaries. Substantial vineyard acreage was acquired in nearby Mertesdorf, including from longtime Karthäuserhof cellarmaster Ludwig Breiling and passionate part-time vintner Marco van Elkan, both of whom have decided to end their winegrowing careers. Fruit from these and other sites is intended to double or even triple the production of basic Karthäuserhof Gutsriesling as well as to enhance the volume of “Schieferkristall.” And in time for vintage 2018 – although that growing season left no room for complaints as regards quantity! – Behler acquired the 12-acre Waldracher Laurentiusberg three miles up the Ruwer Valley, a former monopole of the legendary Huesgen family of Traben-Trarbach that was still in the hands of its descendants. Fruit from that site will also initially swell generic offerings, though there will likely eventually be Laurentiusberg-specific bottlings, too. (Details about this estate, including its somewhat complicated recent history as well as an explanation of its slightly baffling labeling practices, can be found in my introductions to my coverage of its vintage 2014, 2015 and 2016 wines.)