2007 German Wines

 

 

This century has seen an extraordinary run of top-class German vintages: the powerful 2001s, the gorgeously elegant 2002s, the very ripe 2003s (now slimming down to rival the 1959s), the classic 2004s, the legendary 2005s, and the wonderfully seductive botrytised 2006s.

 

2007 is another superlative year. The wines appeal not for their muscle, but for their exemplary balance, charm and, above all, finesse. They may appear to be featherweights, but thanks to the long growing season they have an enormous density, and a very long life ahead of them.  I have never tasted such quality, such sheer refinement at the Kabinett, Spätlese and lower Auslese levels. It is also a great year for dry wines, an area where quality has dramatically improved in the last ten years.

 

The growing season could not have been better.  Budbreak broke records by arriving a whole month earlier than normal, with flowering completed by the end of May. Growers were expecting an unusually early harvest, but a cool wet August slowed ripening considerably. This caused great difficulty in other regions of Europe that harvest in September, but was not a problem for the late-ripening Riesling. Projected picking was instead pushed back to October and November, months which saw glorious weather – warm, but not hot days, and cool nights.

 

The grapes ripened at an ideal pace, and over a record period. (The normal span from flowering to harvest is 100 days: in 2007 it was not unusual to see 150 days, and many grapes were picked even later.)  This has given the wines complexity, but above all great density. They are packed with flavour, but never at the expense of finesse.

 

There was very little botrytis, so the vintage derives its character from very ripe golden yellow grapes, which yield the ultimate in pure expression of place: these are real terroir wines. It was also a year when growers could maximise potential. In 2006 the explosion of botrytis forced a rapid picking of everything in sight; 2007, by contrast, saw a relaxed, long harvest, allowing growers to pick each vine parcel at optimum ripeness.

 

What little botrytis appeared is very clean: this gave wines of unmatched purity. For the first time in a few years there is also high-quality Eiswein. But quantities of these dessert wines are tiny. The year was also excellent for dry wines, and we have purchased a large selection.

 

We are delighted to have taken on three new estates: Robert Weil in the Rheingau, Van Volxem in the Saar, and Schäfer-Fröhlich in the Nahe.  We are also very pleased to welcome back the wines of Müller-Catoir from the Pfalz after a long absence.

 

Ex-cellar prices have remained astonishingly stable, but the strong Euro has meant that the wines have become more expensive. We have tried to keep prices down where we can, but this has not always been possible.

 

Please click to either download the 2007 offer or to view a short introduction to German wines and for details of how the September VDP Auctions work.