Clemens Busch, Mosel 2015

Rita and Clemens Busch own 15 Ha of vineyard on the banks of the Mosel opposite their home village of Pünderich at the start of the Terrassenmosel. The vast majority of the vines are 85-100+ years old and are located in the south-south east facing Marienburg Grand Cru vineyard.

Clemens Busch is among the Mosel’s few organic vintners, and the undisputed champion of the Lower Mosel’s steep Pundericher Marienburg – and is also rapidly demonstrating that he is simply one of the collective Mosel, Saar, and Ruwer’s exceptional talents, not to mention stylistically free spirits!

We fell unashamedly in love with these wines a few years ago - and after a number of judicious Friday tastings of cellar stocks here at Wine Direct - we can happily report that they gain in stature with every swirl of the glass and every month in the cellar! These are simply awesome dry Grand Cru Rieslings from the great 2015 vintage and are unparalleled in their scale, intensity and complexity of aroma. As top German wine writer Stephan Reinhardt at RobertParker.com states; "There have been many great 2015s produced at Clemens Busch....."

2015 was "a super vintage," says Clemens Busch. "We had a perfect vegetation period and a perfect autumn. The flowering was early but very good, with just a bit of color. The summer was hot and dry but in September we had a bit of rainfall, which was perfect for the grapes. We started harvesting on September 25 and we finished November 11. During that time we did not have any rainfalls and harvested perfectly ripe and healthy grapes. We selected for several styles and quality classes and could really do what we wanted to do – except of noble sweet wines. There was simply not enough botrytis, so there is nothing above Auslese in from 2015." Nevertheless, 2015 was the best yielding vintage since 2011 at Clemens Busch. The wines have high extracts and ripe acidities, are concentrated and very clear. "Since I wanted to keep the wines clear and lean, I sulfured earlier than usual to avoid the malolactic fermentation. If it occurs in the last weeks of the fermentation the wines tend to get too broad. I prefer a leaner, purer, fresher and stimulating style for our grands crus, though," explains Clemens. The alcohol weights of his 2015 grands crus are between 12 and 12.5%.