Schloss Lieser Wehlener Sonnenuhr GG Riesling Mosel 19 0

Racy dry Riesling from the hand of Thomas Haag, brother of the infamous Fritz Haag. This is single vineyard (Wehlener Sonnenuhr) magic and has the Grosse Gewachs designation that states it is right at the top of the quality pile – from a Grosse Lage (similar to a first growth if you were to compare to France). 

From our friends at Wine Advocate…

The 2019 Wehlener Sonnenuhr Riesling GG is intense yet fine on the nose, where ripe fruit aromas intertwine with very delicate and refreshing crunchy slate and herbal aromas. Full-bodied, intense and juicy on the palate, this is voluptuous yet finessed and mineral with a long, intense, quite powerful and structured finish that is still somewhat astringent, though, and needs 2-4 years to soften. Tasted at the domain in September 2020.

Thomas Haag has again produced the full range of eight Grosses Gewächs Rieslings in 2019, which I will taste later this year. For this report, I can only give my first impressions of five grand crus, although they were still cloudy and not yet ready in spring when I predominantly tasted the lower levels and the—gorgeous—sweet predicate wines. However, I will share my first findings here, just in case you want to subscribe to them before they will be sold out. About the season, Thomas Haag reports an early budding followed by optimal flowering, an exceptional summer with record temperatures and capricious weather in autumn. “All this has put us winegrowers under full strain. However, intensive manual work and precisely selective harvesting rewarded us with perfectly healthy grapes and exceptional qualities, albeit with lower yields. The cool nights in late summer helped the grapes to achieve an intense and concentrated aroma and perfect acidity levels, which promise excellent aging capacity.” The wines I have tasted so far are rich yet precise and elegant, presenting high extracts and a complex expression of the particular terroirs, all balanced by remarkably fine and stimulating acidity. One of my childs of sorrow, the Niederberg Helden, is the origin of a terrific series of Rieslings that can, thus far, only be topped by the selections from the Wehlener Sonnenuhr.