January 3, 2016 | News | Wines of the Month
Some stunning dry wines were made in 2014, with “smaller” wines often outshining their rank, including this Village Wine. Learn more about this outstanding value!
The Mosel Vintage 2014 proved a remarkably contrasted vintage with true strokes of genius right next to the ordinary (to remain polite). Never have we experienced such a huge diversity in quality and style as in 2014.
However, at the top the vintage delivers some true gems, among the finest since the 1990s. If one got rid of the rot, one was left with stunning clean ripe and zesty grapes with moderate sugar levels ideal for elegant dry wines.
In particular, smaller dry wines often outshine their rank and offer superb value. The 2014er Piesporter Trocken by Weingut Reinhold Haart is a perfect example for this.
Haart has been a household name in Piesport since centuries and the Weingut Reinhold Haart a well-regarded source of Piesporter wines since the 1920s. Theo Haart took over the family Estate in the 1970s and gradually expanded its size to 8 ha, taking on some prime parcels, often from the best makers such as Weingut Tobias when these became available. One of his greatest achievements was undoubtedly to revive the forgotten Wintricher Ohligsberg vineyard. His son Johannes Haart has joined him on the family Estate since 2007 and has focused on the cellar work and commercialization, but, as he puts it, “we pretty much share the work.”
Both Theo and Johannes are wine growers in the best sense of the word. In 2014, their meticulous approach to vineyard management and winemaking came to its full expression. The Weingut Reinhold Haart produced a stunning collection of wines and this in all stylistic directions. These wines all have the Estate’s telltale aromatic purity pairing with gorgeous finesse and elegance.
The Piesporter Riesling Trocken immediately struck us when we tasted it at the Estate during the summer. Even before we said a word about it, Johannes was already smiling and saying: “Yes, I know - Pretty special no?” He then explained that he did not do any Domherr nor Kreuzwingert in 2014 and all the fruit beefed up this wine. And by beefed up, we actually mean “refined” or “made it subtler.”
Domherr and Kreuzwingert are pretty much as opposite as can be, and not only because they are the other ends of the Piesport hill (on the above picture, Kreuzwingert is hidden in the valley to the right and Domherr starts at the far left of it). The deep soil of weathered blue-grey slate of the Domherr makes for quite forwardly fruity wines which really need aging to develop their full finesse. The Kreuzwingert is almost the opposite: Its grey-blue weathered slate and deep soil makes for earthy and backward wines which often require a good decade to open up.
The combination of Kreuzwingert and Domherr clearly brought a touch of magic to this “village” bottling. Add to it the general success of Piesport in 2014 (which is completely against all logic as Piesport is supposed to fair less well in wet vintages) and you have a little jewel of a well-balanced wine. And to make things even better, this offers stunning value.
A review of the gorgeous 2014 Reinhold Haart wines
can be found in Part II of the 2014 Vintage Report published in Issue No 29 (Oct 2015).
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2014er
Reinhold Haart
Piesporter Riesling Trocken
02 15
91
The Piesporter Trocken is usually made from de-classified fruit from the Goldtröpfchen. In 2014, it was pepped up by the whole fruit from the Domherr and the Kreuzwingert. This shows on the quality of the bottling, which cruises far above the usual standards of Village bottlings as it delivers a stunning feel of grapefruit, white peach and minerals, nicely packed into an impeccably well balanced feel on the palate and a gloriously zesty yet juicy finish. This is full of flavors yet remains as light as a daisy with its low 11% of alcohol by volume. This is a stunner of a wine in the making! 2018-2029+
© 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.
