First up was an appointment with Wilhelm Haag. A very nice and friendly man I have met once before and I am a great admirer of his Juffer-Sonnenuhr wines. We rapidly moved through all of the 2000-wines from the basic QbA trocken up to the auslese GK. So fast it was little time to make any notes. But here sare some quick impressions: the trocken wines were slim wines with fruity noses. Clean and typical for the Brauneberger Juffer. For me the real interest started with the "sweet" kabinett which showed more mineral than any of the trocken. The Juffer-Sonnenuhr spätlese is for me the "perfect" balanced wine, showing the weight and aging capasity of an auslese but the structure of a spätlese. The Auslese Fuder 6 showed more power and sweetness but very nice balance. The same can be said about the auslese GK fuder 9 which had some apparent botrytis and showed perfect balance in the mouth. The auslese fuder 13 was a huge step up in intencity showing much botrytis and concentration. Young and fruity.
Wilhelm Haag must be one of the most succesfull producers in this difficult vintage with wines showing good fruit and great structure. Haag admitted it was a very difficult vintage to deal with but was satisfied with the results himself. Then Wilhelm Haag went down to his private cellar and picked up some older wines.
Brauneberger Juffer-Sonnenuhr spätlese 1986
Straw colour. Earthy and slight hints of cassis and mint in the nose. Some petrol. Full-bodied and still young in the mouth showing a bit light structure and very nice fruit.
Brauneberger Juffer-Sonnenuhr spätlese 1985
Straw colour. More petrol and mineral complexity in the nose. Full bodied and better structured in the mouth. Still young but some development, perfect balance and a long taste.
Brauneberger Juffer-Sonnenuhr Auslese 1982
Yellow colour. Honeyed nose. Petrol, earthy complexity. Powerful and clearly sweeter than the spätlese. Nice structure. Very long taste.
Brauneberger Juffer-Sonnenuhr Auslese GK 1990
Lightly golden colour. Honeyed nose, some botrytis. Earth and also minerals. Powerful and tight. Sweet with very good acidity. Young. Huge potensial.
Brauneberger Juffer-Sonnenuhr Auslese GK 1971
Golden colour. Aged, very complex and honeyed nose. Powerful with sweetness "rounded off" and tremendous acidic structure. Earthy mineral complexity. Some petrol. Very long taste. The perfect riesling still showing young. A tremendous experience. Perhaps the finest bottle of riesling I have tasted.
Arnt Egil Nordlien
Jan-02