JAMES SUCKLING | our ratings of vintage 2023 »

Stuart Pigott via James Suckling

2023 ZEPPWINGERT RESERVE Riesling | 100 points

This is one of those wines where you have to hold on tightly, because you don’t know if you’re being pulled up into heaven or down into the Mariana Trench. Dark and light are so perfectly integrated. There’s a wealth of caramelized pear character and wild herb intensity that leave you totally bamboozled. Then comes the extraordinarily graceful and silky finish that makes it impossible to concentrate on anything else. Fermented and matured in one very well used barrique cask, so very limited production. From organically grown grapes.

2023 BATTERIEBERG Riesling | 99 points

So incredibly deep and incredibly fine, this marries gigantic concentration and finesse. Medium-bodied and barely offdry, this has a balance that defies all the conventional categories. Let yourself be wafted away by its sheer weightless finish. Limited production due to a yield of just 20 hectoliters per hectare. From organically grown grapes.

2023 ZOLLTURM Riesling | 98 points

There’s a mind-blowing tension between the enormous stone fruit character of this great dry Mosel riesling and its cool and dry core, around which ample leesy creaminess is entwined. Then comes the gigantic finish, which has a deep base of fine tannins over which a fabulously delicate richness is laid. From organically grown grapes.

2023 ELLERGRUB Riesling | 96 points

The incredible wild herb and licorice aromas pull you inexorably into this enormously structured yet only medium-bodied dry Mosel riesling. Very radical, also radically minerally and dry on the medium-bodied palate. Yet the animating acidity is almost totally below the waterline, like a whale invisibly following a ship. There’s amazing depth and originality in the wild herb and wet stone finish. From organically grown grapes.

2023 BRIEDELER HERZCHEN Riesling | 95 points

Structure and elegance are precisely balanced in this ravishingly beautiful, barely medium-bodied Mosel masterpiece. What graceful peachy fruit this has, but it is the concentration and suspense building in the finish that make this really extraordinary. Extremely slatey finish. From organically grown grapes.

2023 STEFFENSBERG Riesling | 95 points

This wine is young and might seem eccentric to some because the youthful and more mature elements are not yet totally integrated, but how could you not like it? The way freshness and creaminess are interwoven on the medium-bodied palate is stunning. The stone fruit and smoky aromas are fascinating. Then comes the long, silky and delicate finish. From organically grown grapes.

2023 ESCHEBURG Riesling | 94 points

Pretty closed, with an intense flinty character in the first moment, this needs some aeration to bring out the stone fruit, caramelized pear and pie crust aromas. Concentrated and creamy, with a deep well of minerality, this de facto village wine has stunning depth and finesse on the medium-bodied palate. Then the almost endless finish knocks you sideways. From organically grown grapes grown in all the top sites of Enkirch, with the Ellergrub slightly in the majority.

2023 DETONATION Riesling | 93 points

If you want to feel transported back to the golden age of German riesling a century and more ago, then this wine does that for you. Full of golden fruit aromas and a delicate spiciness, it is barely medium-bodied with restrained power and lovely elegance. Really caresses the palate in the long, silky finish. A cuvee of wines from the vineyards in Enkirch, Briedel and Dhron, mostly from over 40-yearold vines.

2023 CAI Riesling | 92 points

This may be an entry-level wine, but it has a wonderful golden autumnal mellowness that’s like nothing else in Germany. I love the interplay of Mirabelle plum and smoke aromas with the restrained creaminess and delicate minerality on the medium-bodied palate. Emphatically dry but beautifully balanced finish.

2023 ELBLING | 91 points

I love the caramelized pear and cider aromas of this creamy, light- to mediumbodied natural wine that radically reinterprets this ancient grape variety. Beautiful balance and good length, which is even more remarkable when you consider it has just 9.5% alcohol. From organically grown grapes from 50-year-old vines. No sulfites added. Unfiltered.

Die ersten Weine des Jahrgangs 2022 »

Bottling of vintage 2022

EINE SELTENE KOMBINATION

VON HOHER REIFE UND NIEDRIGEM ALKOHOLGEHALT


[DE]

Gedanklich schwelgen wir zwar noch im traumhaften Früh- und Hochsommer, der zumindest hier an der Mosel maßvolle Niederschlag der letzten Wochen kam jedoch auch gelegen. Der Herbst naht, einige abschließende Arbeiten stehen im Weingut noch an, bevor wir die Weinlese vorbereiten können.

Wir stellen nach und nach die Weine des Jahrgangs 2022 fertig. Während ‚CAI‘ ‚Detonation‘ und unser Enkircher Ortswein ‚Escheburg‘ bereits im Verkauf sind, durften die Fässer mit unseren Ersten Lagen- und Großen Lagenweinen noch auf der Hefe ruhen.

Jetzt ist es so weit, wir füllen unsere Lagenweine ab! Sie sind ab September in kleinen Mengen erhältlich.

Den Jahrgang charakterisiert eine seltene Kombination von hoher Reife und niedrigem Alkoholgehalt, zwei Eigenschaften, die selten Hand in Hand gehen. Das Aromaprofil ist ein starker Kontrast zum kühleren Jahrgang 2021: Die Weine zeigen sich reichhaltig, hoch strukturiert und hedonistisch mit moderater, fein balancierter Säure.

A RARE COMBINATION

OF HIGH RIPENESS AND LOW ALCOHOL


[EN]

Mentally, we are still basking in the dreamlike early and high summer, but the moderate rainfall of the last few weeks, at least here at the Mosel, also came in handy. Autumn is approaching, some final work is still to be done in the winery before we can prepare the grape harvest.

We are gradually finishing the wines of the 2022 vintage. While ‚CAI‘ ‚Detonation‘ and our Enkirch local wine ‚Escheburg‘ are already on sale, the barrels with our Premier Cru’s and Grand Cru’s wines were still allowed to rest on the yeast.

Now the time has come, we are bottling our single-vineyard wines! They will be available from September.

This vintage is characterized by a rare combination of high ripeness and low alcohol, two qualities that rarely go hand in hand. The aromatic profile is a stark contrast to the cooler 2021 vintage: the wines are rich, highly structured and hedonistic with moderate, finely balanced acidity.

Jour Fixe Rosé! »




Nach dem Jahrgang 2014 kommt erst zum 2. Mal unser Jour Fixe Rosé brut nature an den Start. Der Jour Fixe Rosé ist aus Spätburgundertrauben unserer sehr steilen Lagen Briedeler Herzchen (90%) (siehe Fotos) und Enkircher Monteneubel (10%) in traditioneller Flaschengärung entstanden. Der Sekt reifte 2 Jahre auf der Hefe und ist ein reiner brut nature zero dosage.

Die Vision des Sektes ist die reine Trinkfreude aus einem nachhaltigen Ansatz: von der Bewirtschaftung der Weinberge, der Lese, der Vinifizierung der Grundweine bis zur Versektung.

Im Glas ein zartes Rosa, zudem die Geschmackstiefe: perlende Beerenfrüchte tanzen auf der Zunge und machen diesen Jour Fixe, aber auch jedes andere Jour Fixe, zum Erlebnis. Vibration pur. Enjoy!
Der Sekt ist ab sofort bestellbar.

Der SEKT im SHOP



Markus stemmt sich dem Steilhang entgegen.

Philipp hält sich lieber am Pfahl fest…


Der SEKT im SHOP

Mosel Fines Wines – 2009 “10 Years After” Retrospective »

Thank you Mosel Fine Wines for your rating!


The off-dry wines (a Mosel specialty) fared particularly well in this vintage. The big and slightly ripe structure of the 2009 vintage suited the off -dry Riesling style perfectly. The little residual sugar allowed growers to reduce the alcoholic strength. The residual sugar also allowed them to use fresher and racier grapes (with more acidity). Some of th e finest producers of the genre used the opportunity to produce some truly remarkable wines. This includes Reinhold Haart, Geltz -Zilliken and above all Immich-Batterieberg. 2009 was the first vintage after the Estate’s relaunch with Gernot Kollmann at its helm and the result has been magical. Both the Ellergrub and the Batterieberg are shining examples of delicately off-dry (some call this dry-tasting) Riesling.

E-Mail Adresse: info@batterieberg.com

Jahrgangsbewertung der Batterieberg Rieslinge 2014 durch die unabhängige Publikation „Mosel Fine Wines“ von Jean Fisch und David Rayer »

Gernot Kollmann jokingly started off his description of the 2014 vintage by “rain? Which rain? There was no rain” before providing the details on how he handled the difficult harvest conditions: “We got rained out as everybody else, but the amount we had was significantly lower than just a few miles upriver. Also, my vineyards withheld the rain much better than others, no doubt thanks to the old vines but also, I am convinced, thanks to the fact that our soils are hardly fed and hence poor in nitrogen. Still, there were unclean grapes in our vineyards too. We started our harvest on October 8, i.e. just after the big rain of October 6-7, which means that we had to select, select and select throughout the whole harvest. This not only wore our harvest teams out, it also put a huge dent into my yields. In the end, we only got 21 hl/ha out of our own vineyards! We tried to harvest during good days only, so that we completed the harvested on October 25. Thanks to the selections and despite the botrytis, the grapes came in with sugar levels at the usual 88-94° Oechsle levels in our top parcels.”After a reduced portfolio in 2013, the Estate was able to produce its full portfolio of wines again in 2014, including a Steffensberg (which went into the Escheburg in 2013). Except for the CAI, which was bottled on May 15, all wines were bottled late as usual, this year on August 21.

On the news front, the Estate just acquired some prime parcels, including the parcel from the Bergrettung project of the Klitzekleiner Ring, in the less known Trabener Zollturm, a steep hill west-facing vineyard just upriver to the Trabener Gaispfad. The full story of this exciting revival is covered in a separate article at the end of this Issue.

The 2014 collection by Gernot Kollmann is quite a success! The wines develop a delicately more tropical side but retain the gripping fascination, balance and structure which have made the success of the Estate. The Ellergrub 2014 is a clear candidate for dry-tasting wine of the vintage and a must have for any lover of great Riesling. But the rest of the collection is simply superb. In addition, the 2013 Batterieberg (which we did not have the chance to taste last year as the wine was still fermenting) proves a huge success and one of (if not) the best ever! All in all, this Estate rocks.

2014er Immich-Batterieberg Enkircher Ellergrub Riesling 05 15 94

This delivers a stunning nose of cassis, ginger and grapefruit as well as some floral nuances and yellow fruits. The wine is loaded with flavors and mineral grip on the palate and the finish is airy, complex but also still quite primary at this stage, with the underlying grapefruit and ginger still dominated by herbs and smoke. But the overall balance, finesse and elegance is staggering. This needs bottle age but should then prove a cracker of a dry Riesling. What a great wine in the making! 2019-2029+

2013er Immich-Batterieberg Enkircher Batterieberg Riesling 06 14 93

This offers a superb nose of cassis, ginger and fine herbs. The wine is lively and crisp, yet packed with deliciously complex and fresh flavors of minty herbs, white minerals and grapefruit infused fruits. This is a gorgeous wine in the making, which should prove irresistibly complex and refined at maturity. 2018-2028

2014er Immich-Batterieberg Enkircher Batterieberg Riesling 06 15 92

This deep-yellow colored wine delivers a tropical nose of passion fruit, grilled pineapple, spices and herbs. The wine is still full of grip on the palate, where the high level of dry extracts accentuate the scents of ginger bread spices. The finish is still sharp yet focused, with telltale notes of ginger and white flowers adding a fresh and airy side to the tropical fruits. This is a gorgeously complex wine in the making! 2019-2029

2014er Immich-Batterieberg Enkircher Steffensberg Riesling 03 15 91

The Steffensberg is made solely from over 60 years-old un-grafted vines. Fermented fully dry (at 2 g/l of residual sugar), the 2014 Steffensberg offers a gorgeously fresh nose of greengage and herbs, with the telltale hint of tangerine only gradually coming through. The wine is nicely balanced on the palate, with some creamy fruits dancing with a subtle touch of acidity. The finish is packed with mineral-driven flavors. This only needs a little bit of bottle aging to integrate its exuberant side. It should then prove rather irresistible. 2019-2029

2014er Immich-Batterieberg Enkircher Zeppwingert Riesling 04 15 90+

Rather yellow-hay in color, this develops quite tropical scents of backed mango paired with almond and greengage. The wine is full of grip and minerals on the palate yet the finish is spicy and leaves one with a fascinating feel of ginger bread. This will gain in focus and precision with bottle age and could ultimately surprise us all! 2019-2029

2014er Immich-Batterieberg Riesling Kabinett C.A.I. 01 15 89+

The C.A.I. bottling is essentially made from purchased grapes (including from Wiltingen, Oberemmel, Wolf and Dhron) as well as from the Estate’s holdings in the lower and flatter part of the Batterieberg. Fermented fully dry (with less than 1 g/l of residual sugar), this offers a gorgeously complex nose of almond, ripe peach, brown sugar, spices and herbs. The wine is superbly balanced on the palate, even if still mainly driven by minerals at this early stage, and the finish shows already style and class. This is a really gorgeous wine in the making! 2016-2022+

2014er Immich-Batterieberg Riesling Escheburg 02 15 89

The Riesling Escheburg (named after the original name of the Estate) is made from de-classified fruit from the Estate’s grafted holdings in Enkirch. The 2014 version is fully dry (it has less than 2 g/l of residual sugar) and delivers lovely and complex scents of passion fruit, star fruit, orchard fruit and ginger, immersed into some spicy smoky herbs and brown sugar. The wine is nicely balanced on the palate, with a hint of fragrance and rosewater coming through in the finish. This is already very easy to enjoy now and should remain so for a decade or more. Now-2024

Jahrgangspräsentation der Immich-Batterieberg Weine 2013 am 29./30. August 2014 »

Präsentation des Jahrgangs 2013

Jahrgangspräsentation 2013 Immich BatteriebergAm Freitag, den 29. August um 16 Uhr ging es in der Vinothek im Weingut schnell los. Sehr frühzeitig war die Vinothek gefüllt und die ersten Verkostungen und Diskussionen fingen an: Unterschiede der Jahrgänge 2012 und 2013, warum gibt es keinen Steffensberg 2013, wieso ist der Batterieberg 2013 noch nicht abgefüllt und viele weitere Fragen, Gernot war in seinem Element! Für Abwechslung sorgten in diesem Jahr unsere Gastweingüter Agricola Campi di Fonterenza Montalcino, Eric Texier Rhone und Macon, Domaine Aurelien Verdet, Cote de Nuits und Domaine de l´Horizon. Dies insbesondere, da hier vornehmlich Rotweine im Vordergrund standen und spannende Vergleiche zwischen Rebsorten und Anbaugebieten auch dem Gelegenheitstrinker Interessantes vermitteln konnten. Rolands persönliche Highlights: Brunello de Montalcino von Francesca Padovani für EUR 45 und Fixin von Aurelien Verdet für EUR 20. Ihm gefallen von unseren eigenen Weinen in diesem Jahr die Escheburg (EUR 14,50) und die Ellergrub hervorragend (EUR 26). Wir glauben: Er möchte diese Weine alleine trinken?! Volker hat seine Highlights bei Eric Texier gefunden. Den Unterschied im Geschmack zwischen den Kalk- und Granitböden hat Eric deutlicher herausgearbeitet. (EUR 20-25). Große Weine, nicht für alle Tage, haben wir von Aurelien Verdet und Joachim Christ probieren dürfen. Dafür ist unser CAI wieder der Wein für jeden Abend. Man darf ihn auch ohne Grund trinken. Um bei den Proben Ausdauer beweisen zu können, fehlte auch die kulinarische Seite nicht. Die YoangYong Suppenbar aus Trier sorgte mit ihremseinem Team für interessante und intelligente Speisen, die insbesondere mit den Weissweinen ausgezeichnet harmonierten. Und, nur so war es überhaupt möglich, sich halbwegs aufrecht in den Weingutsgarten zu schleppen, um Judith Holofernes mit Songs von Ihrem Soloalbum „Ein leichtes Schwert“ zu lauschen. Punkt 20.30 Uhr ging es nach kurzer Begrüßung los. Der Weingutsgarten war komplett gefüllt und Judith haute 90 Minuten alles raus und wir kriegen seit Freitag die „Pechmarie“ und „Danke, ich hab schon“ nicht mehr aus den Köpfen raus. Hilft vielleicht nur Wein? Kleiner Wermutstropfen für uns und Judith: sie hat eine Weinallergie. Das Wetter hielt und der Abend endete nach noch mehr Wein und viel Asian Cuisine von YoangYong rund und zufrieden, so sind wir glücklich ins Bett gefallen. Am Samstag ging es um 11 Uhr in der Vinothek bereits weiter. Etwas ruhiger und somit auch intensiver, da mehr Zeit zum ausgiebigen Gespräch mit den Winzern möglich war. Schön auch immer zu sehen, wie sich andere Kollegen blicken lassen: Hendrik Möbitz kam schon am Freitag und schlich sich ins das Konzert, tauchte aber erfreulicherweise auch am Samstag kurz auf (unbedingt seinen „Ölberg“ probieren). Konstantin Weiser (Weiser/Künstler), Daniel Vollenweider, Uwe Jostock (Caspari Kappel), Stefan Steinmetz, Olav Schneider und Sven Enderle (Enderle & Moll) sind immer eine Bank und diskutieren gerne auch mit den Gästen. Danke fürs Kommen. Wir freuen uns bereits auf 2015 und versprechen, alles zu tun, um das Wochenende genauso interessant, animierend und ansprechend für Alle zu machen. Es wird, wie immer, das letzte Augustwochenende. Allen, die Flüge als Verkehrsmittel nutzen möchten, empfehlen wir bereits heute für knapp EUR 100 Flüge nach Frankfurt zu buchen. Bis spätestens im August 2015. Herzliche Grüße Volker, Gernot & Roland