The last bottle in the estate cellar of the Schlossböckelheimer Kupfergrube Trockenbeerenauslese 1921 vintage has been sold for a record EUR 14,992 becoming the most expensive German riesling ever sold.
This was the last bottle of the wine that remained in the Rarities Cellar of Gut Hermannsberg, a bottle that that is not only historical but also comes from an exceptional vintage. vintage. The neck of the bottle is decorated with a banderol, where one can read the ornamental script: Presented as a celebratory libation to honour the President of Germany, General Field Marshall von Hindenburg, at the liberation festivities in Cologne, on 21 March 1926.
Bidding on the wine opened at 350 Euros, and ultimately found a new owner for 14,992 Euros. Estate GM and cellar master Karsten Peter could barely believe it: ‘That is an unbelievably high price, even for a one-of-a-kind item’. And this coming from the man who set a record price last year with his 2015 TBA which sold for 10,600 Euros. Gut Hermannsberg has now become a double record-holder – for a young wine as well as for a mature vintage.
The Auction of the VDP Nahe & VDP Ahr took place on Sunday 23 September 2018 from 11.00–13.00 at the Römerhalle in Bad Kreuznach.
Mr Peter said: ‘Developments at the latest auctions clearly demonstrate that German Riesling has now achieved a very high level of esteem worldwide’.
At the auction, Markus Molitor fetched a price of 1,250 Euros for a dry Auslese from Bernkasteler Doctor (Mosel), while Philipp Wittmann secured a price of 350 Euros for his 2017er old vines Riesling from the vineyard La Borne in Rheinhessen. Klaus Peter Keller sold his dry for his dry Pettenthal Riesling GG for 950 euros, and Weingut Emrich-Schönleber (Nahe) auctioned off no fewer than 302 magnum bottles of their Riesling GG Auf der Ley for 287 Euros apiece.
As the auction hammers were falling hot on the Mosel and the Nahe, winegrowers picked their first pre-selection from the vineyards under summery skies. ‘The great heat and arid conditions in the summer have driven the ripening of grapes quite remarkably forward’, said Karsten Peter. ‘This can definitely be compared with the 1921 vintage’.
We will have to wait and see whether these wines will achieve record-setting prices. But one thing can be said for sure already: 2018 is an exceptional vintage, without a shadow of doubt.
Growers will begin harvesting their top sites in a few days. Karsten Peter is feeling positive: ‘A little bit of rain two nights ago, and the temperature plummeted to nearly 0°C – these are ideal conditions for the onset of botrytis. With a bit of luck we will be able to harvest wines that can also just as easily offer ninety years of aging potential.’
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