2017 Scheurebe Haardter Mandelring Spätlese

Alone among German Riesling growers with whom I discussed the 2017 vintage, Martin Franzen testified to having had some concern lest the bit of rain that fell in mid-August – welcome though it was in theory – might get sucked up into clusters that were relatively chunky with berries that were fairly fat. “But after that,” he recalled, “the weather was perfect through early September, leading to one of, if not the earliest start [September 6] and fastest harvest in this estate’s history [finishing by month’s end]. It’s not that there was any danger of rot,” he continued, “but simply that the fruit had gotten perfectly ripe. Normally we take Sundays off, but not this year. Even so,” he pointed out, “given how early the flowering was, hang time was hardly deficient, and we still ended up picking into a cool phase.” I sense that Franzen has begun following the current Pfalz Mittelhaardt trend toward greater use of casks as opposed to tanks, as well as in the direction of absolute dryness among legally trocken offerings – the only ones in this year’s lineup to harbor significantly more than three grams of residual sugar are a trio of Muskateller – but prominent sweetness in the few that aren’t dry. On the other hand, I suppose it might be said of some of his colleagues that they are moving more in Franzen’s direction by seeking greater precision and less body in their dry Rieslings. While I can’t say that the wines in question quite rise to the exceptional standards historically associated with this grape at this address, it’s still nice to realize that on top of the aforementioned three Muskateller (which reflect Franzen’s consummate mastery of that grape), there is now enough acreage as well as enough consumer interest for Müller-Catoir to field four different vintage 2017 Scheurebe bottlings. Apropos of consumer interest (or disinterest), there is not even one 2017 Riesling Kabinett, but Franzen said, “Don’t worry, there’s still enough demand to merit at least one such wine every other year.” The exception to this year’s precocious and rapid harvest was Rieslaner, whose grapes remained stable and slowly desiccated well past mid-October, resulting in not only the Auslese and Beerenauslese reviewed in this report, but also a pair of TBAs picked in mid-November that were still fermenting when I visited the estate a year later to record my notes on (the rest of) its 2017s. Incidentally, frost – very rare for Haardt vineyards – precluded a dedicated Schlössel Rieslaner from 2017. What little was harvested from that site got blended into the Herzog bottlings. (And bear in mind, Rieslaner was crossed and propagated in part precisely for frost resistance.)

I mentioned in the introduction to my report focused on Müller-Catoir’s 2016s the welcome influx of fruit from young vines in the Herzog and Mandelring Einzellagen. Beginning with the 2018 vintage, production at this estate will be enhanced by progressive acquisitions in the little-known Neustadter Vogelsang (though as part of that deal, some low-lying vine acreage has been relinquished). This development is taking place in parallel with Weingut Christmann, and I have described the site and project in greater detail in the present report as part of my coverage of that estate. (For much more about Müller-Catoir, including its distinguished and, at one recent point, tumultuous history, consult the introduction to my account of its 2014s.)