2013 Brauneberger Juffer Sonnenuhr Spatlese

Very delicate and transparent. The gossamer mode of Mosel in this wine. Very classical. Very pure thin soils and little water holding character. So pure! (JR)

More mineral than herbal. Sweet but crisp on the finish. Pure and citrussy but with that herbal complexity coming out on the finish, especially in the empty glass (always a good sign for me). GV (JH)

The 2013 Brauneberger Juffer Sonnenuhr Riesling Spätlese has a very clear bouquet, but it still shyly reveals its ripe apple fruit and raisin aromas. On the palate this is a rich, sweet and piquant, well balanced and refreshingly salty Spätlese with a great finesse and elegance. In former issues this wine was always designated as AP #7, but since there is no other bottling of this wine in 2013 I do not refer to the AP number. ||Due to permanent rainfalls in September and October, 2013 was a small year in Brauneberg, "even smaller than 2010 and 2006," says Oliver Haag from Weingut Fritz Haag. "However, the qualities are good and much better than we initially thought, though 2013 is definitely not the vintage of the century. We normally aim for a higher ripeness but the quickly spreading botrytis forced us to harvest, there was no open window to a higher ripeness." The wines may need some years to soften their racy acidity, he thinks and describes the 2013s as "classic Mosel wines". Due to the high concentration and small yields (both thanks to botrytis) they are well balanced and have a great aging potential, Haag supposes, "most of all the predicate wines with residual sugar."|"Yields were significantly low in 2013. We always go a high risk since we are aiming for a long hang-time, but in the end of 2013 we harvested a single fuder per hectare (1,000 liters)." |Also, the 2014 harvest was small, since Haag sorted out many grapes which didn't have the quality he is aiming for. "Early budding and the warm and rainy autumns, both an effect of global warming, caused that in 2014 we had the highest personal costs since ever and they won't go down again because we have to pay the statutory minimum wage ("Mindestlohn") to our workers from this year onwards." However, also 2014 finally will turn out to be "a good vintage." "Most of all, in the first week of October 2014 we harvested good basic qualities what we did not in 2013 when harvest started by mid of October." Both harvests, 2013 and 2014, were finished after three weeks, so much earlier than in "normal" years. Compared to 2013, when budding and flowering was late, everything in 2014 was earlier after the warm 2013/2014 winter. The result: After two small crops (if we don't count 2012 which was also reduced in quantities compared to average years) with almost no basic quality in 2013, Fritz Haag's Gutswein of the 2014 vintage was already sold out in January 2015. eRobertParker.com.February, 2015