December 12, 2017 | News | Wines | Vintages
We look back at dry Riesling in the 2016 vintage and share our list of not-to-be-missed vintage highlights.
2016 offered growers clean fruit with moderate acidity and a stress-free harvest, i.e. the ideal conditions for crafting dry Riesling. The knowledge accumulated by Mosel growers over the last years on how to produce great dry Riesling has handsomely paid off: The Mosel hit the bull’s eye in 2016 and produced a huge number of stunning dry Riesling in all stylistic directions, be it in the more fuller-bodied style (e.g. Weingut Heymann-Löwenstein, Weingut Clemens Busch, etc.) or in the lighter style (e.g. Weingut von Schubert, Hofgut Falkenstein, etc.).
One Estate stands out: Weingut Markus Molitor. What it achieved in 2016 is simply awe-inspiring. Not only did it produce the dry Riesling of the vintage, no less than eight of its dry Riesling made it onto our list of vintage highlights, many of these stunning dry Riesling remain very fairly priced.
But also Weingut A.J. Adam, Weingut Clemens Busch, Weingut Julian Haart, Weingut Reinhold Haart, Weingut Heymann-Löwenstein, Weingut Knebel, Weingut Schloss Lieser, Weingut Carl Loewen, Weingut Martin Müllen, Weingut von Othegraven, Weingut von Schubert and Weingut Van Volxem landed several of their dry Riesling on our list of highlights.
Quality-wise, Weingut Reinhold Haart (Wintricher Ohligsberg), Weingut Carl Loewen (Maximiner Herrenberg Trocken Alte Reben 1896) and Weingut von Schubert (Maximin Grünhäuser Herrenberg) may have produced their finest dry Riesling ever.
The most remarkable thing is however the sheer density of great dry Riesling in 2016, a fact reflected in the incredibly long list of vintage highlights. Besides the growers already mentioned, one may cite Weingut Immich-Batterieberg, Weingut Peter Lauer, Weingut Materne & Schmitt and Weingut Weiser-Künstler.
All in all, we can only repeat ourselves. If elegance is your thing, at the top, there is no better vintage than 2016 to get some fine dry Riesling for the cellar.
This buying guide would not be complete without a word on the stunning late releases of dry Riesling which have happened recently or are going to happen over the coming months. Let us be direct: Some of the finest dry Riesling from Germany are now the late-released Rieslings by leading Estates. Many Mosel Estates, including Weingut Clemens Busch and Weingut Dr. Loosen, have recently or are about to release late releases from recent vintages. We urge readers to have a look at these in the latest Issue.
We provide here the dry Riesling highlights from the 2016 vintage (for the number lovers: potentially 93 pts or more at maturity).
Our detailed reports on the 2016 vintage (Issue No 35, Issue No 36, Issue No 37 and Issue No 38) will help you to navigate through the offers of Kabinett on the market as they provide detailed tasting notes for over 1,000 recommended wines from over 100 different Estates.
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© Text by Mosel Fine Wines "The Independent Review of Mosel Riesling ... and beyond!"
Disclaimer: Mosel Fine Wines is an independent publication and has no commercial relationship with any Estate, association or organization featured in this article.
