Fritz Haag Brauneberger Juffer Sonnenuhr Auslese 2005
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Robert
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Spectator
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Winemaker Notes
Ideal as an aperitif or to accompany desserts – or even more heavily ripened - they then also go with various game dishes. But they do not always have to be drunk with food. Nicely cooled this wine always promises to be a real delight.
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Robert Parker's Wine Advocate
2005 Brauneberger Juffer-Sonnenuhr Riesling Auslese A.P. #10 – originating, as usual with this A.P. #, in deeper soils with more fine particulate slate than the #6 – enters a realm where almost custardy, lush richness of texture coexists with fresh berry, pit fruit, and citrus juiciness – in this instance above all cassis, white peach and pink grapefruit – and clarion transparency. At the same time, an incredible lightness of touch to the palate and wafting delicacy set this wine up for a soaring finish of remarkable length and purity of fruit. Certainly botrytis was here, but it got away, leaving only the most subtle and noble of traces in the sheer extra measure of honeyed concentration to the fruit. Lemon cream, pink grapefruit, cassis, honey, and white peach preserve set the tone here from the nose to the finish. 'To combine this richness and botrytis with elegance and finesse is the beauty of 2005,' remarks Oliver Haag, and it is hard to offer a better summation of this particular Auslese, one I would want to follow for another quarter century or more (if I thought I would hold up half as well as the wine!).
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Wine Spectator
Suave, with a texture that's as smooth as silk, boasting peach, apple and citrus notes. Picks up a hint of vanilla custard before the structure kicks in, leaving a citrus aftertaste. Very clean and pure.
Other Vintages
2000-
Wine
Spectator
A sixth-century chronicle state that the vineyards of Brauneberg were "propter vinum" (because of wine) bequeathed to Verdun, France, then an important Roman commercial center. Napoleon paid tribute to the Brauneberger wines by fixing their prices above those of all other Mosel wines. When, in 1806, the Mosel vineyard sites were divided into classes according to the quality of their wines, Brauneberg was the only name in the first rank.
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.