2007 Germany & Mosel Riesling Vintage

Across Germany, early bud break and flowering let development begin by the end of May, giving the grapes the longest overall period of vegetation ever recorded. In the Mosel, a warm spring led to record-early flowering. The summer did not keep pace: there was a marked lack of sunshine throughout June, July and August, and the summer was average at best, pushing ripeness and hang time out to well over 120 days against a norm of more like 100. The 100 days to ripeness were already reached by mid-September, yet physiological ripeness came later despite good must weights, so growers sorted out berries hit by rot and sunburn in dry weather, with warm days and cold nights, and waited with the main harvest until late in October. In the Mosel, Muller-Thurgau and Elbling were picked in the second half of September, while the Riesling harvest began in October and, at estates with hand-picked steep sites, lasted the entire month. Mostly dry, sunny autumn days and cool, at times cold, nights made for a stress-free harvest. The Mosel growing season, from blossoming to harvest, ran 120 to 150 days against a norm of 100, and perfectly dry weather at harvest meant clean grapes with little botrytis. The Mosel crop was an estimated 925,000 hectoliters from nearly 9,000 hectares, some 85,000 hectoliters more than in 2006, an increase Decanter put at more than 10 percent.

Mosel must weights primarily reached Pradikat levels, often 100 degrees Oechsle and above. The wines of the Mosel, Saar and Ruwer were expected to be particularly rich in minerals and extract, since steep-site Riesling had considerable time to absorb minerals from the slate soil. Decanter wrote that the Mosel's late but stress-free harvest yielded juice rich in minerals, promising intensely flavored wines. Looking back in 2017, Mosel Fine Wines named the Auslese GK category the sweet spot of the vintage for fruity and noble-sweet Riesling, and said there is no real Kabinett among the fruity-styled wines, since 2007 was simply too ripe. Across Germany, some growers took the risk of producing Eiswein, and the gamble paid off thanks to a bitterly cold December.

The national grape must harvest was estimated at 10.5 to 11 million hectoliters, some eight percent above the ten-year average and well above the 9.1 million hectoliters of both 2005 and 2006. Decanter called overall yields high, a relief after the small 2006 harvest and warnings of imminent Riesling shortages, with the Pfalz, Rheingau and Rheinhessen also reporting decent volumes. In the Rheingau, harvest began in mid-September and wineries specializing in lusciously sweet wines picked until the end of October, and the dry, sunny autumn produced grapes described as lusciously ripe in some sites. In Rheinhessen, growers praised the wines' wonderful qualities after an ideal autumn, and the growing season for some vines stretched over 140 days.

Decanter's vintage guide rated 2007 at 5/5 and described "Outstanding wines in all quality levels, showing a fine balance of ripeness, fruity acidity and mineral flavours, as well as great ageing potential." For the Mosel, it listed Dr Loosen, Reinhard & Beate Knebel, Fritz Haag, Schloss Lieser, St. Urbans-Hof and Max Ferd Richter among the best producers. In the VDP's report, Clemens Busch said the vintage had so far met every expectation, with wines showing slender and lively with a lovely play of acidity (translated), and Heymann-Lowenstein spoke of a great year with optimal ripeness, healthy grapes and an extremely long vegetation period (translated). Re-tasting in 2017, Mosel Fine Wines said the vintage was well received at first but suffered from the economic crisis of 2008 and from a bulkiness the wines developed after a year in bottle. It now calls the fruity and noble-sweet wines a higher-toned version of the great 1953, with ripe purity lifted by zesty elements, and many sweet wines hugely impressive though far from ready. For dry and off-dry Riesling it found a mixed picture, with some wines probably over the top, but said that at the top the vintage is far better than its reputation and outright outstanding.