Fritz Haag, Brauneberger Juffer Riesling Auslese 2016

The grapes are harvested manually to be able to make a selection of bunches, so that only the best bunches are vinified. It is pressed when it arrives in the cellar and the must ferments in foudres and stainless steel tanks. Lastly the wine undergoes a long ageing on lees that give it the final touch.

Wilhelm Haag is characterised not only by his humour, friendliness and bone-crushing handshake but also by his passion for wine highlighted by his still unwaivering 20 year long stint as chairman of the Mosel-Saar-Ruwer VDP. There is no doubt he is in the top tier of quality German wine production. He manipulates the exceptional stony grey/blue slate vineyard of the Juffer in Brauneberg, the finest part of this being a large parcel surrounding the sun dial (Sonnenuhr). Depending on the vintage, he employs a varying mixture of wooden fuders and temperature controlled stainless-steel tanks, the former helping complexity and finesse, the latter preserving freshness and intensity. These are some of the most elegant, pure and enticing wines in Germany. One of Wilhelm's sons, Oliver, is now over-seeing production at the estate