Winemaker Notes
The extremely steep Brauneberg hillside has been a revered vineyard site since the Romans first cultivated wine grapes in the Mosel valley in the second century. The Juffer Sonnenuhr (“Sundial”) vineyard is the the steepest and most south facing part of the hillside. It produces profound, distinctive wines with great purity and concentration. Spätlese is the German term for “later picking,” where extra time on the vine brings greater concentration and depth of flavor.
Professional Ratings
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James Suckling
The floral finesse and the minerally power of this great Mosel Spatlese are complemented by a wonderful Amalfi lemon and lime zest freshness that lights up the sky. The grape sweetness is so beautifully interwoven in all this. Extremely long and filigreed finish. Drink or hold.
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Vinous
The 2023 Riesling Brauneberger Juffer Sonnenuhr Spätlese opens with a smoky aspect followed by tangerine vivaciousness. This aromatic notion of tangerine peel plunges into sweetness, filling the senses and expanding with sweet freshness. Lovely balance, lovely verve, beautiful nerve.
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Decanter
From the sundial site, Juffer Sonnenuhr, on the Brauneberger hill with some of the oldest blocks and choicest vines, this Spätlese was picked in late autumn. This is delicate and refined with floral, sweet fruit aromatics and a faint mineral lift. The later picked fruit had no botrytis but developed a delicious sweetness. Airy and yet concentrated with lemon drop candies, sweet peaches and cream and an excellent fresh acidity.
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.