The team at August Kesseler share their news of the latest vintage direct from the domaine.

“Once again, the time has come! This year our harvest team set off rather early and we have actually already started harvesting the grapes.”  “Over the coming weeks our sole focus will be the grapes and the weather. Will it hold? What vineyard do we harvest first? What grapes will we let hang for a couple more days?  These are the decisions we take on our daily trips through the vineyards from Lorchhausen to Eltville and we are not just thinking of the refractometer (that measures the weight of the must) but also taking a good look at the grapes themselves.  Above all, we give them a try! The most important resources for any winemaker are his taste buds and his experience.”     

Following a great vintage is never easy. The abundance of quality found in 2015, from lowly estate wines to top Grosses Gewächs, is incredibly rare. 

Unsurprisingly it is impossible to state that 2016 can compete in the sheer breadth of its brilliance. And yet, if we narrow our field of vision, there are undoubtedly plenty of individual wines in 2016 which will happily stand shoulder to shoulder with their 2015 counterparts – and in a refreshingly different style.

Where 2015 gave us wines with huge reserves of fruit and concentrated, intense characters, 2016 is more subtle and charming, with cool fruit flavours, complex minerality and often a touch of herbal freshness. There is an exemplary purity and old fashioned refinement to the best of these 2016s which makes them an absolute delight to taste. As one grower noted, “they are more Art House than Blockbuster”. Acidities are ripe, integrated and often play in the background, making way for clearly presented, precise Riesling flavours to take centre stage. They are going to be tremendously drinkable.