2016 Germany & Mosel Riesling Vintage

The vintage started normally, with bud break in line with the long-term average, though a cool March and April brought late bud break and damage from caterpillars. Then came what Mosel Fine Wines called "a spring from hell": six weeks of rain that led to widespread outbreaks of peronospora (downy mildew). The first half of 2016 saw rainfall at or near the averages for a full year, and in many sectors the peronospora outbreaks were "unprecedented even in the experience of veteran growers," in David Schildknecht's words for Vinous. May began with frost, felt above all on the Obermosel in frost-sensitive varieties, and ended with storms, heavy rain and hail. Hail devastated vineyards around Graach and Wehlen on the Mittelmosel and around Hatzenport on the Terrassenmosel, and heavy rain caused erosion damage in many places. Cool, wet weather held flowering back until mid-June, and it dragged on into early July. Mosel Fine Wines dates the turn to dry, sunny weather to early July; Vinous puts it in late July, when the weather abruptly turned dry and hot. Drought and extreme heat at the end of summer, a water shortage that partly slowed growth, and sunburn on grapes in exposed sites followed. September was warmer in Bernkastel than in any year since good record-keeping began there in 1876, though it was mostly dry and, apart from a few days, no longer too hot. In September the grapes stayed healthy, with no problems from rot, and botrytis appeared only to a small extent. Riesling picking started on the Terrassenmosel at the beginning of October, and the main harvest in the steep sites of the Saar, Ruwer and Mittelmosel began almost two weeks later. With no need to hurry, many growers picked selectively and paused to give the fruit more time, and the weather stayed clear and chilly through mid-November. The Mosel crop was estimated at about 750,000 hl, level with 2015 and about six percent below the ten-year average of 810,000 hl.

• Spring: six weeks of rain and widespread peronospora; early-May frost on the Obermosel
• Hail around Graach and Wehlen (Mittelmosel) and Hatzenport (Terrassenmosel)
• Late summer: drought, extreme heat and sunburn in exposed sites; Bernkastel's warmest September since 1876 records
• Harvest from early October on the Terrassenmosel; crop about 750,000 hl, about six percent below the ten-year average

Yields swung widely. Results ranged from total loss to normal volume, varying by area, estate and site: a Saar grower saw rows with hardly any grapes while full crops were picked just 150 meters away. On the Saar and Ruwer some large estates harvested extremely small amounts, in some cases less than 1,000 liters per hectare, while in parts of the Mittelmosel growers had an almost normal harvest with only small losses. Riesling came in larger than first estimated, with its average yield estimated at 90 hl/ha. The DWI's estimate of 20 October 2016 put the German crop at about 9 million hectolitres. Yields were often on the low side, with a few exceptions, and the Saar and Ruwer wines were slightly fresher than those of the Middle Mosel, with great differences between estates.

• Saar and Ruwer: some large estates made less than 1,000 liters per hectare
• Parts of the Mittelmosel: an almost normal harvest with only small losses
• Riesling: average yield estimated at 90 hl/ha; about 475,000 hl, roughly 63 percent of the Mosel crop
• Germany: about 9 million hectolitres in the DWI's estimate of 20 October 2016

Rolf Haxel, chairman of Moselwein e.V., said growers were on the whole satisfied with the quality, and that "those who brought the crop through to autumn were rewarded with intensely aromatic grapes, some of high quality" (translated). Riesling must weights ran from 60 to more than 100 degrees Oechsle depending on yield, with acidity mostly moderate to low, and wines were expected at every level from dry QbA through Kabinett and Spatlese to Auslese, though with a smaller share of Pradikat wines than in 2015. Acidity and sugar levels were overall moderate, in line with 2014 and 2012, and Mosel Fine Wines called 2016 "a charmer of a vintage with much immediate ripe and fruity appeal, not unlike 2011 (in fresher) or 2007 (in lighter)." The vintage is far from homogeneous, with gems that have the balance of 1997, 2002 or even 2008, and Mosel Fine Wines counted the finest Kabinett and Spatlese among "the most exciting and classic we have ever tasted." Must weights remained moderate throughout the harvest, so the growers' increased interest in legally dry Riesling came without a worrisomely high-alcohol price, and nearly every grower visited expressed delight with 2016 quality.

• Riesling must weights: 60 to more than 100 degrees Oechsle, depending on yield
• Acidity mostly moderate to low; a smaller share of Pradikat wines than 2015
• Mosel Fine Wines: a charmer, not unlike a fresher 2011 or a lighter 2007, with the finest Kabinett and Spatlese among its most exciting and classic

Botrytis was rare in 2016, inhibited by heat and drought first, then by chill, so relatively little Auslese and even less Beerenauslese or TBA was harvested on the Mosel, and the number of BA was very limited. Growers who left healthy fruit hanging for Eiswein got deep frosts at the end of November and again a week later, resulting in the largest haul of wines from frozen grapes in many years. Eiswein was picked on several occasions, in November, December and January, from comparatively clean grapes and at not overly high sugar levels, and Mosel Fine Wines wrote that "the Auslese are pure and the Eiswein are gorgeously fruity." A Julian Haart Kabinett from more than 100-year-old vines in the Wintricher Ohligsberg was not picked until 5 November yet reached just 79 degrees Oechsle.

• Botrytis rare, inhibited first by heat and drought, then by chill
• Relatively little Auslese and even less Beerenauslese or TBA
• Deep frosts at the end of November and a week later: the largest Eiswein haul in many years
• Eiswein picked in November, December and January at not overly high sugar levels