Winemaker Notes
The Brauneberg is an isolated, south-facing hill that is one of the drier vineyards in the area, a great advantage in this wet, northern climate. The steep slope is terrifyingly extreme, and has been a notable vineyard site since the Roman times. A selection of early-picked fruit from both the Juffer and Juffer Sonnenuhr vineyards, the Brauneberger Riesling Kabinett has a very fine, delicate structure and pure, enervating fruitiness that exemplifies the Fritz Haag style.
Professional Ratings
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Wine Spectator
The 2024 Riesling Brauneberger Juffer Kabinett still carries quite some reduction but the palate already started the party. It is stony tautness and immense citrus juiciness entwined, wonderfully rippling, dynamic and energetic, yet without hurry. Gorgeous lightness makes this feel effortless, tender, exquisite. The 2024 is a quintessential Kabinett of exceptional ease and freshness. (Off-dry)
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James Suckling
Crisp and juicy with a feather-light body, this is a very delicate expression of the famous Juffer site. So much fresh apple and pear character, also some herbal intensity. Very crisp green apple finish. From organically grown grapes with Fair Choice certification. Drink or hold.
Riesling possesses a remarkable ability to reflect the character of wherever it is grown while still maintaining its identity. A regal variety of incredible purity and precision, this versatile grape can be just as enjoyable dry or sweet, young or old, still or sparkling and can age longer than nearly any other white variety. Somm Secret—Given how difficult it is to discern the level of sweetness in a Riesling from the label, here are some clues to find the dry ones. First, look for the world “trocken.” (“Halbtrocken” or “feinherb” mean off-dry.) Also a higher abv usually indicates a drier Riesling.
Following the Mosel River as it slithers and weaves dramatically through the Eifel Mountains in Germany’s far west, the Mosel wine region is considered by many as the source of the world’s finest and longest-lived Rieslings.
Mosel’s unique and unsurpassed combination of geography, geology and climate all combine together to make this true. Many of the Mosel’s best vineyard sites are on the steep south or southwest facing slopes, where vines receive up to ten times more sunlight, a very desirable condition in this cold climate region. Given how many twists and turns the Mosel River makes, it is not had to find a vineyard with this exposure. In fact, the Mosel’s breathtakingly steep slopes of rocky, slate-based soils straddle the riverbanks along its entire length. These rocky slate soils, as well as the river, retain and reflect heat back to the vineyards, a phenomenon that aids in the complete ripening of its grapes.
Riesling is by far the most important and prestigious grape of the Mosel, grown on approximately 60% of the region’s vineyard land—typically on the desirable sites that provide the best combination of sunlight, soil type and altitude. The best Mosel Rieslings—dry or sweet—express marked acidity, low alcohol, great purity and intensity with aromas and flavors of wet slate, citrus and stone fruit. With age, the wine’s color will become more golden and pleasing aromas of honey, dried apricot and sometimes petrol develop.
Other varieties planted in the Mosel include Müller-Thurgau, Spätburgunder (Pinot Noir) and Weissburgunder (Pinot Blanc), all performing quite well here.