© Copyright 2000 by Peter Liem From the November/December 2001 issue of Riesling Report September is auction time in Germany. Every year, wine lovers from around the globe gather for the four major auctions: two on the Mosel, one in Rheingau and a combined auction for the Nahe and Ahr. These auctions are for serious collectors and high-end wine merchants, and the winemakers set aside their rarest, most special creations for these showcase events. Most of the wines are from the current vintage, but a few rarities are usually included and upper-Prädikat dessert wines are normally auctioned a year or two later. Using auction wines as an indicator for the overall quality of the vintage helps to make clear what areas fared better than others and who are really the great producers. "A difficult vintage like 2000," say Johannes Selbach, "will really separate the men from the boys." I think you will see what he's talking about as you read through the auction notes below (see the November/December 2001 issue of Riesling Report magazine for tasting notes). The auctions are essentially promotional events for the winegrowers. They are commercial auctions, however, and the participating estates do stand a chance to make some decent money. These are not charity events, they are a reminder of days past when all of the wine these estates produced was sold at auction. Today, most of their wines are sold through normal distribution channels. Only a few limited-production wines are reserved for the auctions. Not every great estate in Germany participates in the auctions. Conversely, not every participating estate is a top-quality producer. The growers' organizations have relatively high quality standards, but there are always underachievers. In addition, certain regions, such as the Pfalz, don't have an auction at all. Overall, however, the quality of the wines is quite good at all of the auctions and we are here to help you sift the golden wheat from the dismal chaff. So you want to do some bidding? Germany's auctions are not secretive events. Anyone can attend, provided you get your tickets while they are still available. See below for the schedule of the auctions coming in 2002. You can contact the respective organizations directly to request ticket reservations (they can all read English). The auctions are a fun and inexpensive way to taste a lot of high-end wines. Each auction is preceded by a morning tasting where you have the chance to meet and talk to the winemakers. The auction takes place in the afternoon and each wine is poured again as it's being auctioned (the logistical feat of serving one-ounce pours to 300 people in just a couple of minutes is alone worth seeing). You don't bid directly, however. You have to connect with an importer who attends the auctions or with one of the official commissioners who do the actual bidding. See "How to get German auction wines" on page 5 of the print edition for a few ideas on how to get started. Our 2000 auction issue (still available to subscribers in the Library of the Riesling Report Web site, www.rieslingreport.com) has a complete rundown on the auction process.
This auction is for a non-VDP association of Mosel-Saar-Ruwer estates, known as the Bernkasteler Ring. It is also sometimes called the "Kleiner Ring" to distinguish it from the VDP Mosel "Grosser Ring" auction in Trier. The Bernkasteler Ring always kicks off the auction week on the third Tuesday of September. Though not as prestigious as the VDP Mosel-Saar-Ruwer auction, and generally of lesser overall quality, there are some excellent estates in this auction. Unfortunately, we can't give you personal tasting notes on this year's wines because our flight to Germany was delayed in all of the mid-September turmoil. We can, however, give you the complete list of wines and their hammer prices, along with some general impressions from friends in the trade who attended. Most of the usual stars shone brightly again this year, but Markus Molitor clearly outclassed the field with his powerful, super-concentrated, yet sleek and racy Rieslings. He has quickly become the biggest fish in the Bernkastel pond. Wines from the venerable Pauly-Bergweiler estate suffered from ponderous weight in 2000, although Dr. Pauly's other estate, Peter Nicolay, produced excellent, well-balanced auction wines. One of our perennial favorite estates is Kees-Kieren, and we were excited to hear that their 2000s were uniformly superb, including an Auslese that was one of the true highlights of the auction. Other estates with stand-out wines were: Kanzlerhof with a racy Kabinett; Lehnert-Veit with a fresh and clean Piesporter Goldtröpfchen Spätlese; Johann Peter Reinert with a delicious Auslese from Wiltinger Schlangengraben; Albert Gessinger with vibrant two- and three-star Zeltinger Sonnenuhr Auslesen; and Reinhold Franzen with his spicy, lively Bremmer Calmont Auslese.
VDP Mosel-Saar-Ruwer ("Grosser Ring") With so many illustrious names included in the Grosser Ring auction, this is usually an exciting event to attend, and this year was no exception. As in most of Germany, 2000 was not an easy vintage in the Mosel-Saar-Ruwer, with the Saar being hit especially hard. Yet even here there were promising wines, not only from the usual suspects Egon Müller and Zilliken, but also from von Othegraven, whose Spätlese and Goldkapsel Auslese were two of the greatest bargains of the auction. In the Mittelmosel, Fritz Haag's Spätlese and lange Goldkapsel Auslese continued to prove that Haag's 2000 collection is among the finest in Germany. Other stars included Willi Schaefer, Dr. Loosen and a brilliant four-star Auslese from Christoffel. The auction concluded with a delectable series of dessert wines from the past few vintages, building to the climax of the extremely expensive and controversial 1994 Trockenbeerenauslese from Egon Müller, which at DM7800 per bottle ($3,700) pretty much shattered all previous auction records.
VDP Rheingau The Rheingau auction seemed to be a bit subdued this year, perhaps due to the fact that 2000 was an extremely difficult vintage in this region. In fact, many producers were unable to submit wines from 2000, opting instead to offer older vintages. It is an exciting prospect to be able to purchase older vintages directly from producers' cellars; however, some of these wines are definitely better than others - older does not necessarily indicate better! Domdechant Werner presented some classy wines, as did Schloss Reinhartshausen and Langwerth von Simmern, but overall there was little here that truly expressed the glory of the Rheingau in the 60s and 70s. We advise the consumer to shop carefully. It is generally accepted that, in the Rheingau, Rüdesheim was the commune that fared the best in 2000, and the Eiswein from Josef Leitz, Rüdesheim's VDP star, was as compelling as expected. But the cream of the auction crop was Schloss Schönborn's wonderful "Lothar Franz" Spätlese from Pfaffenberg, along with its sibling the Marcobrunn. These are terrific wines in their own right, but all the more amazing having come from the 2000 vintage. Fans of the Rheingau will want to pursue the wines from their favorite producers, as always, but quite frankly 2000 was not a vintage to be terribly excited about here. We will cover this topic more widely in our report on the 2000 vintage in Germany, appearing in the January/February 2002 issue of Riesling Report.
VDP Nahe-Ahr The VDP in the Nahe is composed of a small number of highly dedicated and quality-minded producers, and this, combined with the prevailing opinion that the Nahe was in general the most successful Riesling region in Germany in 2000, made for high expectations at this year's auction. Dönnhoff had some striking auction wines - high-powered, plush and distinctly different from his non-auction lineup in this vintage, but no less fine. Helmut Dönnhoff also presented his Beerenauslese from 1999, which is nothing short of a masterpiece. Schlossgut Diel also made absolutely terrific wines in 2000, and his Goldkapsel Spätlese from Goldloch was one of my favorite wines of the auction. Other notables include Crusius and Emrich-Schönleber. In the Ahr, I continue to find excessive problems with volatile acidity and an unrealistic passion for wood. My picks would be the wines from Meyer-Näkel and J.J. Adeneuer, but is anybody outside of Germany going to pay these prices? German auction schedule for 2002
Bernkasteler Ring
VDP Mosel-Saar-Ruwer
VDP-Rheingau
VDP Ahr & Nahe
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Bernkasteler Ring