VINTAGE REPORTS
Vintage report 2007
The vintage year 2007 in Germany's Mosel Valley will be noted first for its extremely long vegetation period, one of the longest the region has ever experienced resulting in excellent quality as our Riesling was allowed the long, slow ripening period vital to yielding the most expressive fruit. Happily for us after several years of low harvests, the vintage also stands out for the satisfying quantities we were able to harvest.
Flowering took place in late May, three weeks ahead of schedule. The year was absent of the extremes of the 2006 vintage year, providing warm temperatures throughout the summer without extreme heat or prolonged droughts. Water supply to the vines was sufficient, even in the warmer months of July and August. During the most critical time, just proceeding and during harvest, from the beginning of September through late October, conditions were absolutely perfect.
With only one and one-half days of rain within the two-month time span, we were able to bring in the harvest without and stress or difficulties with rot or diseases. The grapes remained healthy and could fully ripen with excellent flavor development. Yields from the 2007 vintage were slightly higher than average, high enough to fill the cellar to our full satisfaction, yet still result in wines that are expressive and dense. There was not an abundance of botrytis, and the vintage is best expressed as a Kabinett and Spätlese year.
In all, 2007 provides us with stunning wines from our value-priced St. Urbans-Hof Estate Riesling and through our vineyard-designated Piesporter Goldtröpfchen and Ockfener Bockstein Kabinett, Spätlesen and Auslesen wines. The wines are crisp, racy and refined, reflective of the style that every lover of Riesling from our area seeks ...light and elegant with wonderful fruit flavor. This taste profile for the 2007 vintage wines is the inimitable hallmark of top-quality Mosel Riesling, low in alcohol yet bursting with fruit flavor and minerality, providing a vinous transparency of time and place.
