Grosses Gewächs of Germany Feature Week
2022 was a warm vintage in Germany, as it was as well in neighbouring France resulting in earlier vintages for many regions. It was also very dry in parts, especially during summer. Thankfully, light showers arrived in August for Baden, which refreshed the hot and dusty vines.
Unfortunately, some much heavier rain arrived suddenly during harvest in September in the heartland of the Pfalz and parts of the Rheingau. As a result of the hot and dry summer, grape skins were thick and if not handled carefully in the cellar could result in quite firm and extracted wines, some of which were on show at the GG tasting.
A lot has been said and written about the potential for Mosel pinot noir in the wake of climate change and Maximin Grünhaus Abtsberg GG Spätburgunder 2022 certainly affirmed that optimism.
The hallmark of the vintage, however, was the surprising incidence of elegance and lightness in the best wines. The German press was quick to declare 2022 an outstanding red wine vintage with power and size, yet at the Vorpremiere, the big and powerful wines tasted unbalanced and quite old-fashioned.
Top quality was not to be found there but in the more sensitively handled wines from the likes of Rudolf Fürst in Franken, Allendorf in the Rheingau; as well as Bernhard Huber and Franz Keller from Baden, two friends who are both
This Article was originally published on The Real Review
