Max Ferdinand Richter Vintage Report

There was hardly a day in which they did not have to look at the sky to anticipate the rare interludes between the showers when they could bring in the precious Riesling grapes.

An early bud break and a rapid growth of leaves in the steep Mosel vineyards were followed by a copy-book flowering period in the middle of June. By early July the vegetation was 10 days ahead of the average and expectations were high.

However, this did not last because of the moist but warm weather from then to October. Careful spraying was vital in July and August and those growers who got this right were blessed with clean ripe fruit as the basis for pure aromatic grape flavours.

September was sunny and warm but on the 22nd we suffered from a heavy hailstorm, which destroyed half the grapes in Graacher Himmelreich. We decided to postpone the start of picking to allow the acidity in the grapes to ripen to perfection. On 14th October we started the vintage and this coincided with four weeks of intermittent rain.

Miraculously, healthy Riesling grapes did not suffer from this rain though any wet bunches affected by botrytis had to be carefully eliminated. It took two passes through the vineyards to do this - a most costly and time-consuming procedure but amply rewarded: we did not have a single must below the legal Spätlese level.

As a result, with our stricter than the legal minimum quality standards, we shall be able to offer rich and concentrated Qualitätswein, Kabinett and Spätlese. With 65 hl/ha we made good and sufficient quantity. The first wines to finish fermenting are showing rich aromatic fruit and well-balanced structure, reminding me of the 1998 and 1992 vintages - the only lack is of noble sweet wines.

Now we wait and hope for a big freeze for our Mülheimer Helenenkloster Riesling Eiswein!