From: Saars, Mosel, Germany
Varietal: Riesling
Tasting Notes: Racy and clean, this wine is well-structured for aging; with air it shows off its winter citrus notes and spicy undertone.
“floral, nutmeg, with a hint of wild strawberry” —Lars Carlbergs
About. Much of the following information is adapted from a profile on Hofgut Falkenstein from Lars Carlberg, an American wine professional and writer living in Trier, Germany who specializes in all things Mosel.
Located in the Saar district of the Mosel, Hofgut Falkenstein has over 40 years of winemaking experience. Erich Weber and his wife revitalized the Falkensteinerhof winery that had fallen into disrepair starting in 1985. Today, Erich and his son Johannes farm almost 13 hectares, with about one hectare entirely un-grafted; several of their plots are in highly-prized vineyards.
Erich likes to call himself “Winzer Weber,” winzer being the German word for winegrower. In other words, the emphasis is on the work in his vineyards, where he spends most of his days. With his tan and rugged face, he looks the part, too. Since his middle son, Johannes, has joined him full-time, there has been more of a focus on Rieslings with residual sugar. Like Erich, Johannes studied at Geisenheim. He also went to technical school and has taken on a bigger role in the cellar and vineyards. Erich's youngest son, Paul, and his eldest, Franz, also help out when they can, especially during the harvest. In recent years, their wines have also caught the attention of critics, both in and outside Germany.
Erich and Johannes let ambient yeasts ferment the musts in old oak casks in a deep, cool, and damp cellar with moldy stone walls, and most of the wines end up either naturally dry (trocken) or off-dry (feinherb). Hofgut Falkenstein, therefore, is one of the rare Saar producers that specializes in distinctive, bracing, light, dry or dry-tasting Rieslings, bottled traditionally by the cask. The bone-dry Rieslings are brisk. All the wines have a ripe, racy, and well-integrated acidity from low yields and old vines. The key is a good grape. Besides Riesling, the Webers have some parcels of Pinot Blanc (Weissburgunder) and Pinot Noir (Spätburgunder), the latter one of the best examples on the Saar and Mosel.
The average age of the Webers' vines is between 40 and 50 years old, the oldest are from 60 to 90 years old, with over one hectare planted on un-grafted vines. These are wire- trained with 2.5 meters between rows. The Webers work close to organic, except for preferring certain synthetic sprays to Bordeaux mixture (copper sulfate and hydrated lime) to fight against peronospora.
“Copper is a toxic heavy metal,” Erich says. “It can build up in the soil.”
Starting in the 2021 vintage, Erich and Johannes want to spray just sulfur, copper (small amounts), and phosphorous acid.
The Webers like to bottle each Fuder (barrel) separately, which is rare today but was the standard in old times. Therefore, they can have two or more casks from the same vineyard site and with the same Prädikat. However, these wines will have different AP numbers because they come from different parcels of the same vineyard site and were fermented, aged, and bottled separately.
Hofgut Falkenstein has about nine hectares planted in and around the village of Niedermennig. The vineyards, all in what is called Tälchen ("little valley"), are on various slate slopes in Falkensteiner Hofberg, Niedermenniger Herrenberg, Niedermenniger Sonnenberg, Krettnacher Euchariusberg, Krettnacher Altenberg, and Oberemmeler Karlsberg. On Clotten’s 1868 Viticultural Map of the Saar and Mosel, the core part of today's Niedermenniger Herrenberg was listed under the name “Zuckerberg,”—which actually designates the eastern flank of this main hillside. The Webers also have well-placed old-vine parcels in the adjacent slopes of Niedermenniger Sonnenberg. One parcel in Kleinschock, which is a separate hillside, is labeled under the more site-specific cadastre name of Im Kleinschock because the Webers feel like this deserves a different designation. That parcel is where this particular bottling comes from.
More on this wine
Soil type: Grey slate with some quartz
Grapes: Un-grafted old vine riesling
Method of fermentation: Hand harvested, all gravity fed; only native yeasts & spontaneous fermentation, matured on lees in 1,000L barrels for 3 - 9 months before bottling in the spring months.
