| Weingut Fritz Haag | |
|---|---|
| Location | Brauneberg, Germany |
| Appellation | Mosel (wine region) |
| Founded | 1605 |
| Key people | Oliver Haag, Jessica Haag |
| Cases/yr | 5,500 |
| Varietal | Riesling |
| Website | http://www.weingut-fritz-haag.de/ |
Weingut Fritz Haag is a German wine grower and producer based in Brauneberg, in the wine-growing region of Mosel, Germany.
The first record of the Fritz Haag estate is from 1605, with the Haag family having continuous ownership since that point. [1] [2] [3]
Wilhelm Haag returned to the estate in 1957, due to his father Fritz being ill. Wilhelm intended to work one vintage before returning to studying in Austria, but this did not occur and he continued to work at the estate on a full-time basis. [3] [4] [5] Wilhelm was named German Winemaker of the Year in 1994 by the Gault Millau Guide to German Wines. [6]
Wilhelm retired in 2005 and the responsibility for the wine making was passed on to his younger son Oliver Haag. Oliver had graduated with a degree in oenology at Geisenheim College, and undertaken apprenticeships at Dönnhoff and Karthäuserhof. [4] Oliver runs the winery with his wife Jessica. [4] [5] Oliver's brother, Thomas Haag, has owned and run Weingut Schloss Lieser since 1993. [2] [5] Both are member of the Geisenheim Alumni Association.
In 2008, Weingut Fritz Haag was awarded "Collection of the Year" by both Gault Millau and Wein-Gourmet magazine. [5] [7]
Weingut Fritz Haag is a member of the Großer Ring Verband Deutscher Prädikats- und Qualitätsweingüter. [1] [8] Wilhelm Haag was formerly chairman of the Grosser Ring VDP Mosel from 1984 to 2004 and continues as an honorary chairman. [3] [9]
Weingut Fritz Haag owns a total of 19.5 hectares of Riesling vines around Brauneberg, [10] with 6.5 hectares within Brauneberger Juffer and 3 hectares in the Brauneberger Juffer-Sonnenuhr vineyard. Wine writers Stephen Brook and Stephan Reinhardt both consider the parcels in the Brauneberger Juffer-Sonnenuhr site to be the best owned by Fritz Haag, with Reinhardt stating that the "Juffer vineyard has slightly heavier soils, so the wines are a little bit less refined ... but still of excellent quality". [8] [11]
Stephen Brook says that the estate's "forte lies in the superb range of sweeter styles, all produced without Süssreserve" and that the wines have "tremendous concentration, a bracing minerality, astounding depth of flavour, fine racy acidity and great longevity". [8]
Fritz Haag uses both old oak and stainless steel at the discretion of the winemaker and indigenous yeast is used for the fermentation process. [2]
The average annual production is around 5,500 cases of wine, dependent upon the conditions of each vintage. [8] Wines are produced at all Prädikat levels, as well as top level dry wines designated as Grosses Gewächs. [11]
Mosel is one of 13 German wine regions (Weinbaugebiete) for quality wines , and takes its name from the Mosel River. Before 1 August 2007 the region was called Mosel-Saar-Ruwer, but changed to a name that was considered more consumer-friendly. The wine region is Germany's third largest in terms of production but some consider it the leading region in terms of international prestige. The region covers the valleys of the rivers Mosel, Saar, and Ruwer from near the mouth of the Mosel at Koblenz and upstream to the vicinity of Trier in the federal state of Rhineland-Palatinate. The area is known for the steep slopes of the region's vineyards overlooking the river. At 65° degrees incline, the steepest recorded vineyard in the world is the Calmont vineyard located on the Mosel and belonging to the village of Bremm, and therefore referred to as Bremmer Calmont. The Mosel is mainly famous for its wines made from the Riesling grape, but Elbling and Müller-Thurgau also contribute to the production, among others. In the past two decades red wine production, especially from the Spätburgunder, has increased in the Mosel and throughout the German vignoble and has become of increasing interest to the international wine community. Because of the northerly location of the Mosel, the Riesling wines are often light, tending to lower alcohol, crisp and high in acidity, and often exhibit "flowery" rather than or in addition to "fruity" aromas. Its most common vineyard soil is derived in the main from various kinds of slate deposits, which tend to give the wines a transparent, mineralic aspect, that often exhibit great depth of flavor. In the current era of climate change much work has been done to improve and gain acceptance for completely dry ("Trocken") Rieslings in this region, so that most of the more famous makers have found acceptance for such wines, particularly in Europe.
German wine is primarily produced in the west of Germany, along the river Rhine and its tributaries, with the oldest plantations going back to the Roman era. Approximately 60 percent of German wine is produced in the state of Rhineland-Palatinate, where 6 of the 13 regions (Anbaugebiete) for quality wine are situated. Germany has about 103,000 hectares of vineyard, which is around one tenth of the vineyard surface in Spain, France or Italy. The total wine production is usually around 10 million hectoliters annually, corresponding to 1.3 billion bottles, which places Germany as the eighth-largest wine-producing country in the world. White wine accounts for almost two thirds of the total production.
The German wine classification system puts a strong emphasis on standardization and factual completeness, and was first implemented by the German Wine Law of 1971. Nearly all of Germany's vineyards are delineated and registered as one of approximately 2,600 Einzellagen, and the produce from any vineyard can be used to make German wine at any quality level, as long as the must weight of the grapes reaches the designated minimum level. As the current German system does not classify vineyards by quality, the measure of wine ’quality’ is the ripeness of the grapes alone.
Sylvaner or Silvaner is a variety of white wine grape grown primarily in Alsace and Germany, where its official name is Grüner Silvaner. While the Alsatian versions have primarily been considered simpler wines, it was included among the varieties that can be used to produce Alsace Grand Cru wine in 2006, together with the four 'noble grapes' of Alsace, although only in one vineyard, Zotzenberg.
Ernst Loosen is a German winemaker and owner of the wine producer Weingut Dr. Loosen, located just outside Bernkastel in the Mosel wine region. With over 130,000 annual bottle production, he is one of the larger producers in the Mosel region. He is particularly known for the quality of his Rieslings, having won "Riesling of the Year" in 1989 as awarded by the German wine trade magazine Feinschmecker.
Rheinhessen is the largest of 13 German wine regions (Weinanbaugebiete) for quality wines with 26,758 hectares under cultivation in 2018. Named for the traditional region of Rhenish Hesse, it lies on the left bank of the Rhine between Worms and Bingen in the federal state of Rhineland-Palatinate. Despite its historic name it is currently no longer part of the federal-state of Hesse, this being the case since the end of World War II. There have been several unsuccessful attempts to legally reunite the former wine growing districts of Mainz on the Hessian side during the post-war area. Rheinhessen produces mostly white wine from a variety of grapes, particularly Riesling, Müller-Thurgau and Silvaner, and is best known as the home of Liebfraumilch, although some previously underrated Rieslings are also made, increasingly in a powerful dry style.
Brauneberg is an Ortsgemeinde – a municipality belonging to a Verbandsgemeinde, a kind of collective municipality – in the Bernkastel-Wittlich district in Rhineland-Palatinate, Germany. It is known above all for its wine and its meteorological distinctions.
A number of German wine auctions are held each year, where the premier German wine producers auction off some of the best young wines, as well as some older wines. Most auctions are arranged by the regional associations of Verband Deutscher Prädikats- und Qualitätsweingüter (VDP). These auctions differ from wine auctions on the second-hand market held by auction houses, where collectible wines are sold by private or corporate owners, since it is "first hand" wines that are sold.
Schloss Vollrads is a castle and a wine estate in the Rheingau wine-growing region in Germany. It has been making wine for over 800 years.
St. Antony is a wine estate in the Rheinhessen wine-growing region in Germany, that has been making wine since the end of the First World War.
Weingut Hermann Dönnhoff is a German wine grower and producer based in Oberhausen, in the wine-growing region of Nahe, Rhineland-Palatinate, Germany. The Dönnhoff family have been making wine in this region since 1750.
Egon Müller IV, is a German winemaker and owner of the wine producer Weingut Egon Müller, Scharzhof, located just outside Wiltingen.
Weingut von Othegraven is a wine-growing estate in the Mosel wine region with a wine-growing history of the site from the 2nd–4th century and a documented tradition of more than 600 years. It is located on the lower banks of the Saar River a tributary of the Moselle River, opposite to the village of Kanzem.
Weingut Joh. Jos. Prüm is a German wine grower and producer based in Bernkastel-Wehlen, in the wine-growing region of Mosel, Germany.
Weingut Gunderloch is a German wine grower and producer based in Nackenheim, in the Rheinhessen wine region, Germany.
Weingut Dr. Heinrich Nägler is a German wine grower and producer based in Rüdesheim am Rhein, in the wine-growing region of Rheingau, Germany.
Willi Schaefer is a German wine grower and producer based in Graach, in the wine-growing region of Mosel, Germany.
Weingut Wittmann is a German wine grower and producer based Westhofen, in the Wonnegau district of the wine-growing region of Rheinhessen, Germany. Weingut Wittmann is a member of the Verband Deutscher Prädikats- und Qualitätsweingüter since 1998.
Weingut Brüder Dr. Becker is a German wine grower and craft producer based in Ludwigshöhe, in the Rheinhessen wine region, Germany. Weingut Brüder Dr. Becker is a member of the Verband Deutscher Prädikats- und Qualitätsweingüter since 1971.
Weingut Schmitt's Kinder is one of the most traditional family wineries in Franconia. Viticulture in the family dates back to 1712, while the name ″Schmitt's Kinder″ dates back to the division of the estate in 1910. Located in Randersacker, Schmitt's Kinder is noted for their Silvaner (37%), Riesling (14%) and pinot noir (10%). Its 35-acre (140,000 m2) estate in the Maindreieck district is the middle portion of Franconia and comprising the sites Pfülben, Marsberg, Sonnenstuhl and Teufelskeller. Weingut Schmitt’s Kinder is a member of the Verband Deutscher Prädikats- und Qualitätsweingüter.
