Fritz Haag

Brauneberg, Mosel
www.weingut-fritz-haag.de

Vineyard area: 8 ha [18 acres] (100% Riesling)
Best sites: Brauneberger Juffer-Sonnenuhr, Brauneberger Juffer

The estate is run by Wilhelm Haag and his two sons Oliver and Thomas (who also owns the estate Schloss Lieser in the Mosel). The Kabinett wines are fermented in stainless steel which translates into a very clean fruit character. All of Haag's wines have residual sugar, but this sweetness is achieved without the use of Süssreserve. And why make them dry if one knows how to balance enticing sweetness so incredibly well.

Tasting Notes

Brauneberger Juffer Sonnenuhr Spätlese 2006

Medium lemon color with a green hue. Youthful nose, medium intensity of bees wax, honey, peach and mineral (flint) aromas. Sweet on the palate with high acidity, which gives the wine a prickly sensation in the mouth. Medium body. Very low alcohol. Pronounced flavor of very ripe peach, minerality, orange peel, blossoms and honey. Long lenghh. Drink 2008-2025. Light body.

How can you take a sip of this wine and still say that you don't like sweet wines? This Spätlese is so lush and succulent and at the same time so brambly and thorny with piercing acidity that only people who dislike the sensation of biting into a ripe strawberry may turn away from this wonderfull sweet Riesling. Endowed with so much flavor and structure this wine is meant for the cellar. I tremble when I think of how it will taste in 15 years from now.

The Brauneberger Juffer is one of the top sites in the Mosel region, rich in slate and iron. Following is a comparison of Haag's two most recent Brauneberger Juffer Kabinett vintages, both drunk when they had about the same age.

Both wines showed intensity and complexity, yet felt fairly lightweight at the same time. The 2006 was sweeter and smokier, but lacked the immense fruit, which was packed into the 2005. The latter also had a longer length. Both are immensely satisfying Kabinett wines.

Brauneberger Juffer Kabinett 2006

Pale lemon color. Youthful, very minerally and smokey nose with a medium intensity of grapefruit aromas. Sweet on the palate. High acidity. Light body. Pronounced mineral flavors and again that smokey grapefruit note. Medium(+) length with a peppery finish. Drink now or keep 10+ years.

A delightfully sweet terroir wine.

Brauneberger Juffer Kabinett 2005

Very pale, almost watery lemon color. Youthful nose, medium intensity of mineral aromas, coconut, peach, citrus and tree blossom. Off-dry, high acidity, light to medium body. Medium intensity of peach fruit, citrus, minerals and a little spice. Long length.

A picture-book Kabinett. Light, vibrant, refreshing, yet soft on the palate and complex in its flavour structure, which the wine holds throughout an unusually length for a Kabinett-style wine. Very harmonious finish. It can certainly be kept for another 8-10 years but its vibrancy is also great now.