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2010 Brauneberger Juffer-Sonnenuhr Auslese [06 11]
£49.40 per Bottle
£296.42 per Case
£38.50 per Bottle
£231.00 per Case
Bottle - 75cl
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There are no German wines more elegant than those of Weingut Fritz Haag*. They do not shout and are often overlooked in favour of more showy bottles, but for balance, finesse and subtlety they are hard to beat. The great Juffer vineyard in Brauneberg, one of the few designated grand cru by edict of Napoleon in 1804, has everything to do with it, of course. Its characteristic subtle floral notes and tensile mineral strength are an excellent foil for the estate’s style, but none of the several owners can quite match what Fritz Haag does there*. With a pedigree like this, it’s no surprise that the wines have a fantastic ability to age.
The estate owes its greatness to Wilhelm Haag, who started in the late 1950s, crafting beautiful wines from the Juffer, and its heart, the Juffer-Sonnenuhr, where vines are clustered on a dauntingly steep and rocky slope around the sundial. While his older son Thomas bought the defunct Schloss Lieser, turning it into one of the Mosel’s great success stories, his younger son Oliver took over the family estate in 2005. We can speculate that competition between the two has driven them both into the ranks of the very best winemakers in Germany. While Thomas’ wines are about energy, precision and character, Oliver’s wines have an understated subtlety that becomes increasingly apparent as the wines age.
Oliver is constantly improving his vineyard sites: in 2021 three-quarters of a hectare of lesser vineyards was sold off and exchanged for better ones. In recent years there has been more focus on dry wines. An afterthought in the past, they now command the best grapes from the best sites and can take their place amongst the finest trockens in Germany.
*with the honourable exception of Schloss Lieser, a chip off the old block.
2022 Vintage
The Juffer is a dry site, but fortunately it has many old vines, whose roots can dig
deep for water. Nevertheless, Oliver carried out a severe programme of green harvesting to reduce the burden on the vines, with many healthy bunches landing on the ground. Yields are thus very small, but he has produced a crop of perfectly ripe, balanced wines. He compares them to 2020, but they are gentler and more elegant, without the pressure of ripeness of that year.
Showing the single result
£49.40 per Bottle
£296.42 per Case
£38.50 per Bottle
£231.00 per Case
Bottle - 75cl
+ Add item