Germany - 2005

2005 is one of the best vintages of modern times, ranking alongside 1975, 1976 and 1990.

This vintage has produced wonderful wines across the range from dry to intensely sweet which will give immense pleasure now and for many years to come.
Great German rieslings are made in September and October and both months saw perfect weather conditions in 2005. The long-awaited rain in September was followed by glorious sunshine creating ideal conditions for noble rot to set in. The crop was extremely ripe, beating the records set in 2003, but, crucially, with balancing levels of acidity. Ripeness levels were such that many estates could have declared their entire crop as Auslese so the Kabinetts and Spätlesen are of a very high order. Low yields mean that quantities are limited.

'This year is unique: seldom has there been such unanimous praise from all 13 wine-growing regions about the quality of the grape crop,' said Armin Göring, managing director of the German Wine Institute in Mainz. 'The majority of must weights are of Prädikat wine quality and some come very close to those of vintage 2003.' <br><br> Göring attributes this positive outcome to the extraordinarily sunny year. According to the German Weather Service, the collective number of sun hours recorded from March through October exceeded the long-term average for an entire year. This enabled the grapes to ripen about two weeks ahead of schedule. Precipitation during the harvest in September helped speed up the harvest so that the grapes could be gathered while still healthy.