2022 Riesling Maximin Grünhäuser Abtsberg Spätlese

Maximin von Schubert is the sixth generation of his family at the Maximin Grünhaus – Von Schubert estate. Von Schubert makes spellbinding Rieslings from three contiguous Grosse Lagen on the imposing, south-facing Grüneberg in a lateral valley of the Ruwer. Von Schubert studied business rather than oenology and worked in management before joining his home estate in 2014. Von Schubert explained that not having a wine background is Fluch und Segen, is both a blessing and a curse. In 2016, the same year the estate re-joined the VDP, he took over entirely from his father, Dr. Carl von Schubert, who remains chairman of the VDP’s Mosel branch. While Carl von Schubert already paid more attention to dry wines than his forebears, the entry into the VDP and thus the production of Grosse Gewächse prompted even more attention to very healthy grapes without any botrytis in the dry wines. The historic estate traces its history to 966 when its lands were donated to the Benedictine abbey of St. Maximin in Trier – hence the names of the three Grosse Lagen: Abtsberg is where the wine for the abbot was harvested, the wines for the canons and lay brothers was harvested, respectively, in the Herrenberg and Bruderberg. After Napoleon annexed the area, the church property was confiscated and sold at auction in 1810. When the first family ancestor bought the estate, Carl Ferdinand von Stumm-Halberg, in 1882, it became one of the most progressive in Germany. It was the first winery to have a water turbine generating electricity and the first to install hydraulic presses. This progressive spirit was also evident in Dr. Carl von Schubert. Despite presiding over one of the most historic Riesling vineyards in Germany, he planted two parcels of Pinot Noir in the Abtsberg, one in 2007 and another in 2011. His advocacy has also led to the permission for Pinot Noir as a variety for Grosse Gewächse in the Mosel as of the 2022 vintage (once an estate can prove sufficient vintage depth.) Change and progress indeed. The estate currently farms 37 hectares of vines, 34 on the Grüneberg with a further three hectares in Mertesdorf, Waldrach and Kasel. Apart from Riesling and a small portion of Pinot Noir, there also is some Pinot Blanc in the highest parts of Herrenberg and Abtsberg. Riesling grapes are crushed and gently pressed. There was no skin contact in 2022. The juice is sedimented and then ferments spontaneously in various sizes of stainless-steel tanks and Fuder. Harvest began on 6 September for Pinot Noir, on 13 September for the second portion of Pinot Noir, for Riesling and Pinot Blanc on 15/16 September. Then followed a 12-day break for rain, and harvest finished on 18 October. During my visit, I tasted the current releases of the Pinot Noirs (2020), Pinot Blancs (2020, 2021) and the Rieslings from 2022, with one library release from 2018. The dry Rieslings show as much elegance as the off-dry and sweet ones. The Superior bottling, not legally dry but not off-dry either, presents a fascinating comparison between the contemporary GG style and the slightly more playful but no less serious “dry” wine of the past.