Riesling Alte Reben

The estate-grown Alte Reben (old vines) Riesling is selected from vines that are 30 to 70 years old. It is a classic Grünhaus Riesling: fruity and racy, with precisely focused blue slate minerality, but with the added intensity and complexity that come from old vines.

Spontaneous fermentation with native yeasts in a combination of old Fuder casks and stainless steel tanks.

TECHNICAL INFORMATION
Grape Variety: 100% Riesling
Vineyard Source: Maximin Grünhäuser Abtsberg and Herrenberg
Soil Type: Red and Blue Devonian slate
Age of Vines: 30–70 years
Vineyard Management: Practicing organic, but not certified
Average Yield: 40 hl/ha
Harvest Method: Selective hand picking
Harvest Date: October, 2016
Must Weight: 78 Oechsle (18.9 Brix)
Alcohol: 11.5%
Total Acidity: 8.8 grams/liter
Residual Sweetness: 12.9 grams/liter
Total Production: 860 cases

Reviews of the 2017 vintage:

[93] Stuart Pigott (JamesSuckling.com)
A classic dry riesling from the Ruwer! Light in alcohol but deep and complex with blade-runner clarity at the very long and mineral finish.
Drink or hold. June 2018

[92] Fine Wine Review
Dry, tension, energy, medium-weight, stony. Mostly from Abtsberg. 11.5% stated alcohol. October 2018

[91] Mosel Fine Wines
It develops a beautiful even if still rather restrained nose of slate, mirabelle, herbs, peach and spices. The wine is superbly balanced on
the palate, where ripe flavors of fruits are nicely balanced out by some juicy acidity. It is still slightly on the rough and unfinished side of life
in the finish but will blossom in a few years. June 2018

[90] Wine Enthusiast
Crystalline minerality takes center stage in this exceptionally light, zippy, oldvine Riesling. It’s dry in style with crisp-tart lime and
green-apple flavors dusted in crushed slate, salt and quartz. It finishes bracingly, with an invigorating streak of acidity. It is an elegant wine
to enjoy now–2023. April 2019

[90] Wine & Spirits
Carl von Schubert and his son Maximin base this wine on their old vines, 30 to 70 years old, and vinify it with ambient yeasts in a mix of
old fuders and stainless-steel tanks. It’s a substantial QbA, earthy and mineral, with bright, tight notes of lemon peel and calamansi driven
by steely acidity. Direct its energy at anything fried. February 2019

[89] Wine Spectator
Hoppy notes open this Riesling to citrus and kiwifruit flavors, underscored by lively acidity. Pure and refreshing on the tangy finish.
Drink now through 2023. Web Only 2019

[17/20] Jancis Robinson
Good concentration of fresh green fruit on the nose with just a hint of flinty minerality. Sleek green fruit and gooseberry are well supported on the palate by delicate spicy and stony notions. Light and elegant with animating acidity, well supported by the deftest of residual-sugar sprinklings. Drink 2018-2023.
July 2018 – Michael Schmidt. (Mythos Mosel 2018 – VDP Members)

Reviews of the 2016 vintage:

[91] Vinous.com
Under VDP rules, this is officially the estate’s Ortswein (village-level bottling), but in keeping with its name, genuinely old vines are favored, which results in a dominance of Abtsberg over Herrenberg. Like the bottling now known as “Monopol,” this is finished at the low end of legal Halbtrockenheit and thus tastes essentially dry. Apple and white peach are laced with fresh lime on the nose and on the firm, juicy palate. Impressions of peach fuzz and lime peel lend invigoration without drying the palate, and the similarly stimulating piquancy of apple seeds and peach kernel remains on the right side of bitterness. The finish is downright vibratory and plenty refreshing, introducing an appropriate wealth of stony, smoky and crystalline impingements.
March 2018

[92] Wine Advocate
The 2016 Maximin Grünhaus Riesling Alte Reben is the successor of the Abtsberg Alte Reben, although it is not entirely sourced in the Abtsberg anymore but also the Herrenberg. The wine opens with clear, precise, aromatic, beautifully concentrated and finely mineral-scented Riesling fruit with some tropical fruit aromas such as pineapples. On the palate, this is a medium-bodied, very mineral but also juicy-piquant and crystalline Riesling with the grip and tension of the former Abtsberg. It is an impressive Grünhäuser Riesling with good length and complexity but just 11.5% alcohol. Stimulatingly salty. Impressive! AP 2.
April 2018 – Issue 236

[90] Mosel Fine Wines
This 2016er Maximin Grünhäuser Alte Reben AP02 was made mainly from fruit in the Abtsberg fermented down to 13 g/l of residual sugar. The wine develops a great nose of fresh gooseberry, pear, mint, herbs and spices. The wine is beautifully racy and elegant on the palate and leaves a delicately creamy feel in the finish. This is beautifully well made in a persistent yet elegant feel in the finish.
June 2017