2018 Fritz Haag Brauneberger Juffer Riesling Kabinett
SKU #1454175
94 points
James Suckling
The right edge of reductive funk here and a very fresh array of white-nectarine and lime aromas and succulent flavors. Sublime freshness and drinkability here.
(4/2019)
92 points
John Gilman
The 2018 Juffer Kabinett had been bottled a couple of weeks ahead of Prowein and was showing very well at the time of my visit. The wine comes in at nine percent alcohol, with 7.7 grams per liter of acidity and forty-five grams of residual sugar this year. The wine is lovely and really quite classical in its Kabinett sensibilities, offering up a beautiful bouquet of apple, pear, salty slate minerality, spring flowers and an esthery topnote of bee pollen. On the palate the wine is medium-full, bright and beautifully mineral in personality, with excellent focus and grip, zesty acids and fine filigree on the long and complex finish. Given my recent research on just how brilliantly Kabinetten can age, it is a pity that this wine was not bottled under natural cork, as it could have lasted for half a century. We will have to see how it fares under screwcap, but there is no doubting the its impeccable quality out of the blocks.
(4/2019)
92 points
Vinous
Apple, honeydew melon and lime mingle on a delightfully generous nose and an equally engaging palate whose gloss is allied to delicacy and complemented by brightness uncommon for this vintage – a clear tribute to Haag’s having had these grapes harvested in the middle of September. A honeyed hint of quince emerges midpalate. Sweetness here is well integrated to enhance the impression of lusciousness but not preclude animating brightness, consummate refreshment or transparency to wet stone on the finish. This Kabinett’s 9% alcohol illustrates the wisdom in 2018 of letting alcohol rise a bit over what’s typical for the genre, which had the effect of moderating sweetness without sacrificing any sense of levity. “If anything, I’d like in future to move residual sugar in my Kabinett even lower than the 45 grams that are present here,” averred Haag, “but naturally one has to be cautious and sensitive to consumers’ expectations.” (DS)
(10/2020)
91 points
Robert Parker's Wine Advocate
Oliver Haag has stopped suppressing the vineyard name on the label of his Brauneberger "village" wine, so the newest release comes along as 2018 Brauneberger Juffer Riesling Kabinett. The wine has a very clear, fresh and crunchy slate bouquet but is still reductive (in a very attractive way, though) before it opens to very clear, attractive ripe stone fruit aromas intertwined with spicy slate notes. On the palate, this is a clear, lush, fresh, salty-piquant and delicately structured Riesling with gorgeous fruit and a crisp, salty/slatey finish. Tasted in April 2019. (SR)
(6/2019)
K&L Notes
93 points, Mosel Fine Wines: "AP: 03 19. The 2018er Brauneberger Juffer Riesling Kabinett was made from fruit harvested at approx. 85° Oechsle on the Brauneberger hill (i.e. in the Juffer and Juffer-Sonnenuhr vineyards) and was fermented down to fruity-styled levels of residual sugar. It offers a beautiful nose made of vineyard peach, herbs, floral elements and refreshing elements of whipped crème fraiche. The wine is gorgeously playful on the palate, where it unleashes some nice orchard fruits, ripe zesty elements and the creamy side of a light Spätlese. The finish is animating and hugely long. This is a gorgeously animating expression of light-footed and floral Mosel Riesling. (08/2019)."