2019 Germany & Mosel Riesling Vintage

The 2019 season started a little more slowly than the "Turbo-Jahr" (turbo year) 2018, and water was a worry from the start: unlike spring 2018, there was no groundwater cushion to draw on, though some rain did fall now and then through the summer. Early flowering at the start of June set Germany up for an early vintage. On the Mosel, frost in spring was followed by extreme drought, great heat with the risk of sunburn and hail in summer, and rain in autumn. On the Ruwer, Maximin von Schubert of Maximin Grunhaus lost up to half his potential crop to a late spring frost on 5 May. Temperatures of 40 C were recorded on two or three days in July 2019. Record heat above 40 degrees Celsius caused sunburn damage everywhere in the Mosel region to an unprecedented extent, very unevenly, with losses of up to 50 percent in some vineyards. Von Schubert counts only 50 summer days in 2019 that qualified as warm, against 90 in 2018. The drought kept berries small, and very sunny days at the end of August and start of September gave the vines a big ripening lead. On the Mosel, rain in autumn often forced growers to hurry the Riesling in, steep-slope harvesting machines added capacity, and by mid-October the harvest was largely finished. Oliver Haag of Fritz Haag told Jancis Robinson: "The September rain in 2019 may have added depth and minerality to the wines and the cool nights helped to retain acidity but it was tricky to manage."

• Early flowering at the start of June; no groundwater reserves to draw on in spring
• 5 May frost cost Maximin Grunhaus on the Ruwer up to half its potential crop
• Summer on the Mosel: extreme drought, great heat, sunburn and hail; heat above 40 degrees Celsius
• Autumn rain forced a hurried Riesling harvest, largely finished by mid-October

The 2019 Mosel crop was 695,000 hectoliters from 8,798 hectares, a small harvest 8 percent below the ten-year average, and growers spoke of a "neidschen Herbst" (an "envious autumn"). Yields swung widely within the region. A crop above the ten-year average of 754,000 hectoliters was still expected in late summer, but Moselwein e.V. estimates then fell to just under 694,000 hectoliters, a quarter less than 2018. Estimated yields averaged 82 hl/ha, from just 20 hl/ha up to 100 hl/ha in vineyards spared by the weather. The hot summer gave high ripeness, with must weights mostly around 90 degrees Oechsle and ideal acidity. In numerous Riesling vineyards the coveted noble rot set in, and with must weights above 230 degrees Oechsle great noble-sweet wines were to be expected. Jancis Robinson, by contrast, wrote that noble rot was not particularly prevalent in 2019. In Graach, Christoph Schaefer of Willi Schaefer left some grapes on the vine until the sunny weather of mid-October and made an array of Auslesen, some from raisined rather than nobly rotten grapes, and an even riper, sweeter Beerenauslese. Oliver Haag told the VDP that his musts all reached Pradikat level and that every Pradikat could be picked.

• Mosel crop: 695,000 hl, 8 percent below the ten-year average
• Estimated average 82 hl/ha, from 20 to 100 hl/ha
• Must weights mostly around 90 degrees Oechsle; noble-sweet musts above 230 degrees Oechsle
• Noble rot in numerous Riesling vineyards, though Jancis Robinson found it not particularly prevalent in 2019

Frost in May and heat in July nearly halved the crop on the Ruwer. At Maximin Grunhaus, picking began in the last week of September with Pinot Blanc and Pinot Noir, and the small Riesling crop came in with an ideal balance of must weight and acidity. On the Saar, Schloss Saarstein saw yields nearly halved against 2018, and Florian Lauer described heavy selection work at harvest and a loss of 30 percent against a normal year. Despite the ripe fruit, acidity was pleasingly racy there, and the aromas of the musts ranged from racy and fruity to exotic. Dorothee Zilliken told Jancis Robinson that "the 2019s are filigree and elegant but still intense. Open and accessible now, they will last up to 40 years", naming the Auslesen and Spatlesen in particular.

• Ruwer: frost in May and heat in July nearly halved the crop
• Saar: Schloss Saarstein yields nearly halved against 2018
• Saar acidity pleasingly racy despite ripe fruit
• Zilliken: 2019s "filigree and elegant but still intense"

The Weinbauverband Mosel called 2019 "Ein fordernder Weinjahrgang mit vielen Wetterkapriolen" (translated: a demanding vintage with many weather whims), and cellar masters saw great potential in the young wines, with a very aromatic interplay of fruit and acidity. At the Moselwein e.V. tasting in spring 2020, the 2019 whites were very approachable soon after bottling, with fresh, often exotic fruit and herbal notes, and the jury judged them more typical of the Mosel than the more powerful 2018s: more elegant, slimmer and fresher, with harmonious acidity and relatively moderate alcohol. The tasting results showed outstanding wines everywhere in the region, from the southern Wein-Mosel to the Terrassenmosel. Oliver Haag called 2019 a "kleinen, aber feinen Jahrgang" (translated: a small but fine vintage). His brother Thomas Haag of Schloss Lieser told Jancis Robinson that lower yields, thicker skins and the extra concentration they brought lift 2019 above 2018. Katharina Prum of J J Prum in Wehlen said: "2019 is really a great vintage. We have no complaints in any respect." Robinson wrote: "The characteristic of the 2019s is that, despite their appetising acid levels, so many of them are already a delight to drink."

• Moselwein e.V. jury: more elegant, slimmer and fresher than the 2018s, with moderate alcohol
• Oliver Haag (Fritz Haag): a small but fine vintage (translated)
• Thomas Haag (Schloss Lieser): lower yields and thicker skins lift 2019 above 2018
• Katharina Prum (J J Prum): "2019 is really a great vintage"

2019, like 2018, was marked by high temperatures and widespread drought across Germany, extreme in some regions, and intense July sun caused sunburn in nearly all regions. There were hardly any problems with vine disease or pests, so very healthy, very ripe grapes came in almost everywhere, and many estates made Beerenauslesen and Trockenbeerenauslesen. In December 2019 some growers were still hoping for Eiswein, with about 42 hectares left hanging for it in Rheinland-Pfalz. The harvest was small, early and unusually fast, and VDP president Steffen Christmann said (translated): "In only 16 harvest days we were able to pick great grapes." VDP estates picked on average about 25 percent less than the long-term mean, and a national crop of 8.4 million hectoliters was expected, 4 percent below the ten-year average.

• Heat, drought and July sunburn in nearly all German regions
• VDP estates: about 25 percent below the long-term mean
• National crop: 8.4 million hl expected, 4 percent below the ten-year average