Von Schubert

This estate is centred on a former monastic Manor House at the foot of the Maximin Grünhaus hill close to a narrow tributary of the Mosel, the Ruwer. This towering hill is responsible for world famous wines of Carl von Schubert whose sensible attitude to vineyard management, careful selection and yield restriction result in classic examples of Ruwer style wines that are at bold, racy and mineral. Three of the region’s top vineyards are all situated on this hill. The Herrenberg occupies most of this,producing taut, mineral wines, whilst the other two comprise Bruderberg and Abstberg. In the monastic period the former provided the brothers’ tipple whilst the venerable, opulent Abstberg provided the extravagant imbibing requirements of the Abbotts.

2023 Vintage: A year with razor-like acidities and spine tingling, complex minerality, 2023 reaches for the skies. We have never tasted better dry wines here – and this has been an area of real attention and focus over the past few vintages – whilst the off-dry “Superior” Feinherbs remain an enormous strength of the estate. Up and down the hierarchy, these Ruwer wines are laced with fine citrus, herbal and slate-driven notes with a levity and animation that exudes more stone this year than fruit. Vineyard signatures are clear; containing tense, noble fruit and spice in the wines from the Herrenberg; wild cool brambly notes from the Bruderberg, and immensely refined, dew-like droplets of sophisticated Riesling from the Abstberg. Maximin Grünhaus is undisputedly one of Germany’s greatest estates and the 2023s, though not an easy vintage by any measure, rank amongst the finest wines they have produced in recent years. Excitingly, 2022 represents the first year for Pinot Noir in the Mosel-Saar-Ruwer as a qualified Grosses Gewächs. In getting Abtsberg over the line as a fully-fledged GG and showing that Pinot has longevity and class in their region, Von Schubert proves he is a man of both traditional tastes and long-term aspiration. April 2024 saw devastating frosts in the Ruwer which suggest a crop loss of up to 90% for the year. As such, this may well prove to be your best chance of securing a broad range of brilliant Grünhaus wines for a while.