Weingut Dr. H. Thanisch

Vintage Report 2014 by Weingut Dr. H. Thanisch:

The 2014 harvest demanded a lot of sensitivity and strong nerves from the growers in the Mosel valley. The continuously changing weather conditions during summer and early autumn presented us with a challenging situation. We started harvesting as well the Pinot Noir as the Riesling earlier than anticipated.

Following a mild winter and a very warm spring bud-break and flowering took place early indicating only the best for 2014.

Already in the beginning of April vines were budding, and the flowering took place in the beginning till mid of June at dry weather without problems.

After the very dry spring, rain was badly needed and hoped for. It came with a vengeance during July and August – 295 liters alone during the month of August. September fortunately dried up again.

These weather conditions influenced the harvest extremely. All growers carefully observed the continuously changing weather during September: the spectrum went from sometimes almost ideal conditions with sunny days and cool nights to unfavorable humid-warm phases. The health condition of the grapes was the decisive criterion for the start of the harvest. To prevent rot and loss of quantity in our main variety Riesling we started picking earlier than in the previous years.

We started picking our Pinot Noir very selectively on October 2nd and harvested at 90° of Oechsle. The quality of the grapes was very good, even though there was a heavy quantity reduction due to an extremely severe selection process which already took place in the vineyard. An additional challenge presented this year an insect brought to Europe from Asia. The “Kirschessigfliege” affected mainly red grape varieties and made special attention to each single grape indispensable.

Picking was completed on October 30th.An extreme selection process was carried out in our Rieslings vineyards. The quantity harvested in our top vineyards was reduced to no more than 2000 litres / hectare. The average quantity in our Riesling vineyards amounted to 2700 litres/hectare. The extreme attention to quality finally paid off. We were rewarded with a good spread of quality levels from our Qualitätswein to Kabinett, Spätlese and some beautiful Auslese musts.

We are very pleased with the development of our 2014 vintage in the cellar. The musts and wines are characterized by good extract-values, a harmonious and well integrated acidity and very beautiful clean fruit aromas. Similar to the last years, the wines will be kept on the lees for a long time, so that they will stabilize in a natural way and have the time to develop complexity and structure.

We are very much looking forwards to the next summer, when we will be able to show you the new vintage.

Tradition
The Thanisch's can look back to centuries of winegrowing tradition. In 1882, the family acquired the Berncasteler Doctor vineyard, which owes its famous name to legend. A portion of it is today still a part of our estate.

The Wwe. Dr. H. Thanisch Erben Müller-Burggraef estate is owned by Barbara Rundquist-Müller and managed by a visionary team with continuous national and international success.

This is reflected by the many awards and recommendations the wines received during the past years.

Crossing all borders
The reputation of the excellent quality of our estate wines extends far beyond the Mosel region.

The estate gained its international reputation in the middle of the 19th century under the ownership of Dr. Hugo Thanisch. From that time on, Thanisch wines repeatedly obtained spectacular prices at international auctions, as for example in 1986 when a 1921 Berncasteler Doctor Riesling Trockenbeerenauslese changed hands for the incredible sum of 11.200 DM (approx. 16300 $ )

Viticulture in the Mosel valley is dictated by the unique countryside. The character of the growing area is formed by the special  geological, topographical and micro - climatical configuration. Grower's experience, care and innate understanding compliment the mineralic and spicy interplay that define these extraordinary wines.

Over a period of 15 million years, the Mosel dug into a slaty mountain range full of minerals that developed 400 million years ago.

The slate erodes easily and its components decay and enrich the soil, which are dissolved in the ground water and absorbed by the vines.

Due to the sheltered position of the Mosel Valley, it is part of the warmest climatic zones in Germany. The capability of the Mosel River and the soil to store heat and reflect sunlight minimizes the annual deviation of temperature and maximizes photosynthesis, making viticulture possble in this, otherwise, very cool region.

Legend

The legend says that in the 14th century the Kurfürst (electoral prince) Boemund II of Trier fell very ill with a fever during his stay at the Landshut castle. No medicine and none of his famous doctors were able to cure him. With a small barrel of his finest wine, explaining that this was the best medicine. After drinking it, the Kurfürst recovered completely. He summoned the grower to thank him and gave him the vineyard and as an award of honour, the name was the "Berncasteler Doctor", as this was the only "real" doctor.

Vineyard Site

The legendary Berncasteler Doctor vineyard is located behind the village Bernkastel and is one of the most famous vineyards in Germany.

This 100% steep site with a South-South-West orientation consists of medium deep, stony, loamy weathered argillaceous schist. Planted with up to 80 year old wines, full-bodied, spicy wines are grown here. The South-South-West orientation of the vineyard guarantees optimal sunshine throughout most of the day.

The Riesling wines from the Berncasteler Doctor are among the most  famous and noble white wines in the world.

The Doctorcellar 

The majority of the vinification of our wines still takes place today in the traditonal, over 350 year old, "Doctorcellar". The cellar was carved into the rock underneath the vineyard and keeps a consistent humidity and year round temperature of 8-9° Celsius, ideal conditions for the maturation and storage of special wines.

The history of the Doctorcellars "Schatzkammer" is legendary, where at the end of the 1950's the rediscovery of hidden bottles created a lot of attention. In several auctions, these rediscovered treasures achieved spectacular prices.

The handcrafted copper doors of the cellar tell the Doctor legend and are renowned from many pictures.

Experience from Tradition

The internationally recognized Wwe. Dr. H. Thanisch, Erben Müller-Burgraef estate is located in the picturesque town of Bernkastel-Kues in the heart of the Middle Mosel. Here we cultivate, 12 hectares (ca. 30 acres) of prime, steep Riesling sites.

Among those sites are - apart from the inseparably to our estate connected - Berncasteler Doctor, Bernkasteler Badstube, Bernkasteler Graben, Bernkasteler Lay, Brauneberger Juffer-Sonnenuhr, Graacher Himmelreich and Wehlener Sonnenuhr.

Since several years we have also been cultivating a small amount of Pinot Noir. As with the Riesling, we attach the greatest importance to selective hand-harvesting and the most careful processing of the grapes.

Innovative Change

Our estate uses intuition and technology to determine the proper cultivation and right timing in harvesting our individual top wines. For us, tradition and innovation are values that influence our work on a daily basis. 

A large part of this is sustainable and ecological-oriented viticulture with no use of pesticides, herbicides (special herbs are planted to kill weeds), insecticides (use of pheromones instead), no chemical fertilizers (only mulch from pips, stems and skins of grapes) or heavy machinery which compacts the slaty soils with nearly all work done by hand.

Environmentally-friendly practices extend to the cellar where there is no use of artificial enzymes, sorbic acid (commonly used to stabilize wine), industrial cleaners and only minimal use of sulphur dioxide.

Therefore, we attach great importance to the care of the soil and the vines, conscientiously paying attention to low yields. At harvest, we we consider physiolgical ripeness over the specific weight of the must. This is the reason for the high quality of our wine, as only the physiological ripeness guarantees fully ripened aromas and flavors