April 10, 2015 | News | Wines | Mature Riesling

The Magnificence of Maturing Mosel Riesling

Aged Riesling is a stunning experience. Learn more about the phases Mosel wine goes through as it matures to make the most of your bottles..

Riesling matures superbly well, with or without residual sugar

Mosel Riesling is often enjoyed young and it is easy to understand why: Its youthful exuberance and liveliness is really hard to resist. But the true greatness of Mosel Riesling reveals itself with age. At maturity, it is one of the great wine experiences any wine lover can have. And this does not only concerns the big BA, TBA or fruity-styled wines. Also the great dry and off-dry wines benefit hugely from aging.

When is the best moment to enjoy your Mosel Riesling? This question is difficult to answer in generic terms as personal preferences play an important role. Nevertheless, here are some rules of thumbs which can prove quite helpful.

Of course, the guidance here below presupposes appropriate shipment and cellaring.

Evolution of fruity and sweet Mosel Riesling

Fruity wines typically go through the following phases (here on the example of Spätlese / Auslese):

• Primary Youth Phase: for up to two years, the wines burst with primary fruit and can be a joy to drink and taste the essence of the grape.
• Muted Phase: Mosel wines have a tendency to close down after 1-3 years after the vintage. During this period, the wines do not show much beyond vague notes of citrus, a touch of hay and, in extreme cases, even a touch of caramel.
• Fruit Phase: at around 8-15 years old, the wines start to open up again and show their full primary fruit, but nicely integrated.
• Terroir Phase: at around 15-25 years of age, the wines still show some fruitiness but the sweetness has receded and blended into the flavors of the wine.

• Mystic Phase: at over 25 years of age, the wines tend to develop their own dynamics: Differences between terroirs disappear (to an extent) and tertiary flavors kick in, with notes of marzipan, candied fruit, etc.

Typically, Kabinett will follow a faster track than the one above. Also, BA and TBA, thanks to their high sugar levels, tend to go through a less pronounced muted phase than fruity-styled wines made from clean fruit (but make no mistake, most still go through such a phase!).

Evolution of dry and off-dry Mosel Riesling

In contrast, dry and off-dry wines go through a slightly different evolution pattern, as few dry / off-dry wines show any real “primary fruit” phase. Here the overall development phase for top wines from leading sites:

• Muted Phase: for up to 3-5 years after bottling (and sometimes more!), Mosel wine can be quite hard to taste. Inexperienced wine lover often discard dry Mosel Riesling as being poor when they taste some in this phase.
• Fruit Phase: 5-10 years after the vintage (and more for the best examples), the wines develop beautiful complex and fruity flavors.
• Terroir Phase: After 15 years until 25 years after the vintage (and more for the best examples), off-dry wines start to come into their own in this phase as they start to taste fully dry. Also great dry wines can achieve this balance and taste wonderfully after 15-20 years.

• Mystic Phase: As with fruity-styled wines, after 25 years, the wines tend to develop their own dynamics. Many fade away but some develop an ethereal youthful and yet ripe complexity which can prove absolutely stunning. This concerns in particular off-dry wines and / or wines with less pronounced acidity..

The rules of thumb for dry and off-dry wines have to be taken with an even bigger grain of salt than those for fruity-styled wines. They only concern the small proportion of dry / off-dry Mosel wines which are made to last. Not all dry / off-dry wine “made to last” evolve well as vintages and style play a role. The key criteria for harmonious aging and other conclusions on dry Riesling can be found in Mosel Fine Wines Issue No 14 (Jan 2011).

One thing has remained a constant throughout our wine tasting experiences: whatever his preference, we have yet to meet someone who was not captivated by grand mature Mosel Riesling!

The is an extract of a fully detailed article published in the Mosel Fine Wines Issue No 27 (Mar 2015).
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