2005 Vintage

2005 began with a successful frost-free budbreak at the end of April. Spring was sunny, yet a little too dry in parts, so that our young vines had to irrigated. Flowering started in mid-June and was completed in around two weeks.

On 27th of June, we were stunned by the first tornado to strike Grünhaus. Dozens of trees, some of them over 200 years old and 40 metres high, were uprooted, and the park walls were severely damaged. Unfortunately, 5 ha of the Abtsberg were damaged by hail.

The summer was more pleasant for the vines than for us, as the must weights were already unusually high by the end of August. A fantastic autumn followed: blazing sunshine and high temperatures during the day, with very cold nights that bordered on frost. Must weights shot up, but acidity levels remained astonishingly stable.

The harvest began very early on 10th October, and thanks to the perfect weather finished in record time on the 25th. Carl von Schubert and Stefan Kraml searched through the harvest records of the 20th century, and found only 3 or 4 years with similar must weights – 1921, 1959 and 1976. The dry autumn, extensive measures to reduce yields, and the hailstorm meant that our yield was only 30 hl/ha, but the must weights were on average over 100 Oechsle, and acidity levels up to Auslese level of 9-10 g/l. We can celebrate complex, aromatic and very elegant Maximin Grünhaus Rieslings.

The textbook combination of cool, sometimes foggy nights and the warm days that followed allowed rapid development of a fine botrytis in the lower parts of the Abtsberg and Herrenberg vineyards lying next to the woods. This meant that we could make very concentrated top wines ranging from Auslese to Trockenbeerenauslese. The high acidity levels in these wines are remarkable, some over 15 g/l, providing a perfect balance to the sweetness.

In this year we introduced a new category of wine, the Herrenberg and Abtsberg Superior. The grapes are sourced from the best, lowest-yielding parcels of the estate; they are allowed to finish their wild yeast fermentation naturally, but are not necessarily dry. These are unyielding wines even in cask, exhibiting spicy mineral notes, with great depth, harmony and elegance, and they make an excellent accompaniment to food. Superior wines come in a special bottle, the label based on an original design from the early 20th century. In the past these wines would often have been classified as dry Auslesen, but to avoid confusion we will in future label wines as Auslese only if they have residual sugar.