German Vintages

The 2022 harvest in Germany commenced in late August, making it one of the earliest harvests on record. Plentiful sunshine across all regions indicated a high-quality vintage with above-average volumes. 2022 is a vintage that I could monitor firsthand and across many areas, thanks to several visits to Germany throughout the growing season. My impression leading up to the harvest was that German vineyards looked healthy, and growers seemed happy with their vines’ development. The only concerning visuals I can remember were parched and water-stressed rows on the Rheinhessen’s Roter Hang, but this may have been the winemaker’s noble but risky choice to farm without irrigation. All the sun and dryness suggest a quality red wine vintage, and whites likely to be ripe with lower acidity. The heat contributed to overall healthy fruit, and berries were small and concentrated, and early reports suggest whites will be ripe, intense, and textured, perhaps resembling the 2018s. Reds should be fully ripe, full-bodied, and of excellent quality overall.

The 2021 growing season in Germany was challenging and rewarding as we finally have what many are describing as “a classic German vintage” after three warm and dry years from 2018 to 2020. A cold and wet winter preceded a warm February before returning to a cold and rainy spring in March, April, and May. June brought warm temperatures before a warm but wet July, bringing with it Peronospora and devastating and deadly flooding in the Ahr. These warm but wet and humid conditions meant much work and expense for the growers. A hot and dry harvest period began in late August through October. Cool nights kept alcohol and acidity levels in check resulting in a vintage that reminds us of a time before climate change. The resulting wines, upon release, are fresh and full of nuanced aroma with less alcohol and welcoming acidity. I’m more enthusiastic about the 2021 Rieslings than I am about the sound but ripe 2020s. The 2021s are sleek and straight by comparison, and in some instances (where I could compare the same wine side by side), the ’21s show much more aroma on the nose and detailed linear length on the palate next to the ’20s. The long-term aging potential of the 2021 vintage in Germany? Of course, Lagenweine, such as the just-released VDP.GGs are just making their debut on the market, but I tasted some very well-structured, tightly wound wines that will surely go the distance, especially from Pfalz, Nahe, and Rheinhessen.

2020 is a hot vintage with similar weather to 2003. An early spring began with warm and sunny days then frost in May, which reduced yields in some regions. Rheinhessen and Pfalz were mostly unaffected. Flowering occurred towards the end of May, preceding a hot and dry summer. The harvest began at the end of August in most regions just as cooler weather brought relief to harvesters and kept acidity levels closer to 2012 or 2015. Early harvesting was another key to preserving acidity, and it was important to harvest quickly as grapes ripened rapidly and often all at once, making 2020 the “Turboherbst” (turbo autumn), as it was dubbed by some growers. These were ideal conditions for red grapes, and my tasting book is filled with outstanding notes for 2020 Spätburgunder. This following 2019, yet another outstanding vintage for German Pinot Noir. Another feature of the 2020 vintage is that there was very little botrytis anywhere to be found, and Kabinett is in good supply. In the end, the 2020s have a bit more freshness than 2018 and aren’t as heavy and alcoholic as the 2003s. Overall, a very good vintage.

While 2019 is another hot vintage in Germany, the wines generally possess more refreshing acidity than the 2018s, and low yields resulted in good concentration. After a mostly smooth flowering, a late spring frost on May 5th left some Mosel growers with half their normal crop, and a few localized hailstorms and sunburned grapes in some areas contributed to already low yields. A hot, dry summer commenced, and while temperatures reached a scorching 104 degrees more than once, there were fewer hot days during the growing season than in 2018. September rain and cool nights helped to retain acidity, but the rain meant picking dates had to be chosen carefully. The harvest began for early-ripening varieties like Müller-Thurgau in mid-September, with the harvest for later-ripening varieties like Riesling not occurring till the end of the month. With good acidity, ripe and concentrated fruit, and thick skins, the 2019 vintage produced outstanding Riesling, which was delicious from the onset, and top dry wines should age beautifully. Spätburgunder is ripe and structured with superb aroma (my Notizbuch has many excellent notes for Spätburgunder in this vintage). Noble rot was not particularly prevalent in 2019.

The 2018 growing season in Germany was hot, dry, and bountiful, producing the largest harvest since 1999. The bumper crop of healthy grapes following the frost-affected and low-yielding 2017 vintage was a welcome relief to growers who experienced little to no frost in 2018. Harvest began early, but conditions remained dry without vast amounts of botrytis, allowing many growers to produce a full range of styles, from trocken to TBA. A cold snap in January meant excellent Eiswein for those who waited. The resulting wines, upon release, were ripe and expressive with generally riper acidities. Comparisons to the 2005 and 2003 vintages come to mind, but unlike the 2003s, the 2018s have more shape, freshness, and structure thanks to thick-skinned berries. Some excellent Prädikatsweine resulted from this vintage, including some exceptional Auslesen. Spätburgunder achieved plenty of ripeness in this vintage. The long-term aging potential of the 2018 vintage in Germany remains too early to tell. Still, the ripe acidities point to early drinking pleasure, with the very top dry Rieslings giving lots of gratification in their youth and enough structure to offer many years of satisfaction.

Early spring frosts significantly reduced the 2017 vintage in Germany, but warm and dry weather with plentiful sunshine throughout the growing season resulted in an early start to the harvest. Some of the hardest hit frost areas were the Saar, Mosel, and Rheinhessen, but for those who produced the upper levels of Prädikatsweine, the small crop and the early onset of botrytis produced wines of high extract. Early harvesting was necessary to keep acidity and alcohol levels in check for the basic trocken Riesling category, and these wines show freshness and snap. Overall, the low yields, warm days, and cool nights produced concentrated wines with freshness and salinity, and some producers liken the 2017s to the 2010 vintage. Franken avoided the spring frosts, and the quality of its Silvaner and Spätburgunder are excellent.

Elegance, balance, and charm are the words which sum up the 2016 vintage in Germany, this despite a wet spring and early summer. Temperatures warmed beginning in mid-July and stayed warm during August and September before cooling down with a dry October and November. The rain and occasional hail storm during the spring months resulted in a lower yielding vintage, and the dry weather in the later half of the growing season meant very little botrytis styles were produced. Generally viewed as an excellent vintage for dry wines, 2016 trocken Rieslings display moderate alcohol and higher acidity than the 2015s. The Nahe and Mosel were the most challenged regions due to excess rainfall with sites on slopes and of slate soils fairing best. Rheinhessen, especially the vineyards on the Roter Hang, produced very fine quality in 2016. Overall, the wines give immediate pleasure with not one component outweighing another. A very good vintage of classic elegance and charming drinkability. 

Although a slightly smaller vintage than 2008, the 2009 vintage in Germany received high praise from the international wine press and ranked among the best vintages of that decade. Spring and early summer were relatively cool, with rain showers arriving in June and July. August brought warmer and drier weather, but cool nights helped retain aromas and acidity leading into harvest. Hail reduced yields in the Rheingau in a mostly otherwise idyllic harvest season which began in September and continued through October. Botrytis was limited in most areas, and 2009 resulted in minimal quantities of sweet Prädikatswein in Germany. 2009 is an outstanding dry wine vintage featuring wines with fully ripened fruit character, higher alcohol, and sometimes lower acidities. Great dry wines in good supply came from Pfalz, Rheinhessen, and Franken. While some Nahe estates produced excellent sweet wines in 2009, dry GGs are the wines to focus on from this vintage.

The 1999 growing season in Germany was defined by a hot and dry September before ten days of heavy rain arrived in October. The harvest followed a perfect April bud break and a near-perfect spring and summer. At the time, these were some of the highest temperatures ever recorded in Germany’s wine regions, with early comparisons drawn to the legendary 1959s. Dry weather returned in mid-October, but ten days of rain diluted the concentration in the berries. The resulting wines, upon release, generally displayed lower acid levels, and many 1999 Rieslings featured a soft, approachable, early-drinking style. Some intensely rich and concentrated Trockenbeerenausleses were produced later in the harvest. Baden, with its focus on early ripening Burgundian varieties fared well as did Württemberg and Franken. Archetypal Rieslings, if lower acidity, were made in the famous sites of the Pfalz, Rheingau, Nahe, and Mosel, with an outstanding result in the Saar. The long-term aging potential of the 1999 vintage in Germany is lower than average, outside of the sweet Beerenauslese and Trockenbeerenauslese wines from top producers. Most of the finest 1999s Rieslings have reached their drinking window, and it is probably best to open and enjoy any lingering in your collection.

From Michael Boradbent's Vintage Wine: "Poor, acidic wines, one of, if not the worst vintage of the decade." Most reports of this vintage mention a poor and practically non-existent summer with cool temperatures resulting in underripe grapes. The harvest was late; October was warm, dry, and sunny. Overall, wines tend to be thin and acidic. Broadbent mentions an excellent Egon Müller Scharzhofberger Riesling Eiswein 1984 tasted with Hugh Johnson in 1991, but positive words about Germany's 1984 vintage are few and far between.

For a decade that gave us the legendary 1971 vintage and some very good '76s and '75s, there were also some awful vintages like '72, '74. '77. and '78. A wet spring delayed budbreak and flowering did not go well. Summer was mostly cold and rainy before warm conditions arrived in September and October. Grapes failed to achieve full ripeness and the wines were light and acidic upon release. Broadbent writes in Vintage Wine that his "overall impression of the wines is that they were pleasant enough, mostly mild and gentle, lacking distinction and length."

1976 was one of the best of the 20th century producing excellent quality across Germany’s growing regions. The cool and wet spring delayed budburst, but warm weather followed and allowed successful flowering before heat and drought set in to make it the hottest summer in 100 years. August was warm and sunny, and autumn moisture arrived in September, encouraging botrytis. The sunny weather continued until the end of the vintage. Very ripe and concentrated sweet wines resulted from the warm vintage and autumn mists. Auslesen and higher Prädikate from Mosel-Saar-Ruwer and Rheingau were particularly successful. Some 1976 Rieslings have stood the test of time despite generally lower acidities and continue to offer pleasure after 45+ years in bottle. Mosel-Saar-Ruwer, Rheingau, Rheinhessen, and Franken were all outstanding. In Frank Schoonmaker’s classic book “The Wines of Germany” (Revised Edition by Peter Sichel © 1980), the summary reads: “Next to ’49 and ’21 [1976 is] considered one of the greatest vintages of this century.”

It is incredible to think this is the vintage that just before its harvest, the assassination of Austrian Archduke Franz Ferdinand occurred, Austria declared war on Serbia, and Germany (Austria’s ally) declared war on Russia (Serbia’s ally). WWI. While horrible fighting took place in the vineyards of Champagne, German winegrowers still brought the harvest in despite the lack of man and horsepower. 1914 was also just four years after the formation of the VDNV (Verband deutscher Naturweinversteigerer), the predecessor of today’s VDP.