2020 Julian Haart Mosel Riesling, Mosel

Based in Piesport, in the heartland of the Mosel Valley, Julian Haart is the young star of German winemaking. His wine education could scarcely have been more illustrious, working with Heymann-Löwenstein for a year, Emrich-Schönleber for two and a half years, Egon Müller for a year, and Klaus Peter Keller for three years.

On his return to Piesport, he took over a small half-hectare plot in the Wintricher Ohligsberg, planted with century-old vines, followed by a hectare in the Piesporter Schubertslay, a unique plot with vines planted in 1904 on original rootstocks. Because it is so rocky, it escaped the Flurbereinigung of 1992, when vineyard holdings were rationalised, new roads built and an enormous amount of replanting was done.

The estate has grown to a little more than four hectares and this is, roughly, where Julian wants it to stay. Part of the joy of winemaking, for Julian, is doing everything himself, or with his wife Nadine, or with some friends. This is vineyard work, and winemaking, at the most human scale. Nearly everything must be done by hand – most of the vineyards are steep as hell and most of them are terraced. Even walking through them is a bit hazardous.

His goal is to make superlative dry wines, but they are brilliant and elegant across the entire range.  He is striving for vineyard expression rather than just fruit; fermentation is allowed to start naturally, and the cellar temperature is kept at a steady 20ºC. Terroir shines through!