Egon Müller - Scharzhofberger Spätlese - Riesling 2001
Weingut Egon Müller is located in the Saar Valley sub-region of the Moselle in Germany . The estate was established in 1797, when Jean-Jacques Koch purchased the Scharzhof farm from the French Republic. His daughter married Felix Müller and the estate has remained in the same family ever since. The current owner is Egon Müller IV , who studied at the best wine university in Geisenheim. A large part of the Scharzhofberg vineyard (8.5 hectares), located on the south-facing gray shale hillsides behind the Scharzhof house and winery, forms the heart of the Egon Müller estate. He works exclusively with the Riesling grape variety and the wines are produced at different levels of maturity : Kabinett, Spätlese, Auslese, and Auslese Goldkapsel in the best years. If conditions permit, sweet Beerenauslese, Trockenbeerenauslese and Eiswein are also produced.
Scharzhofberger comes from Riesling vines located in Wiltingen, far from the Saar in a side valley and facing south. The slopes of the vineyard are quite steep (30 to 60%) and high, between 180 and 280 meters above sea level. Formed from gray slate from the Devonian, the soils are very deep and without bedrock. Spätlese means “Late Harvest” and is made from grapes that have a must weight of 76-90 Oechsle (the hydrometric scale measuring the density of grape must) which equates to 172-209 g/L of residual sugar .
The 2001 vintage was an exceptional year for German wine. A mild, wet winter gave way to a cool, wet spring which slowed budburst. However, temperatures rose and fell again in June and flowering continued. Finally, a hot summer arrived. The dry and sunny weather continued throughout the harvest until November.
Grape variety: 100% Riesling