Julian Haart’s story is a wine writer’s dream: young man from the Mosel trains as a chef, works in Michelin starred restaurants, but soon notices that in the end, the vineyards‘ call drowns out all the kitchen noise. So he returns to his home region and starts putting together a miniature wine estate, from zero to about 1.5 ha of the choicest vineyards.
Where? Needless to ask with that name: in Piesport (Theo Haart of the Reinhold Haart estate is Julian’s uncle, which means there is some Riesling in his blood) and in neighbouring Wintrich. Predictably enough, as he’s used to stars at the stove, he also goes for the best when it comes to learn about winemaking, which Julian did at Julia and Klaus-Peter Keller’s famous estate in Rheinhessen. The result: Riesling with loads of lushness (Goldtröpfchen, or rather Schubertslay!) and intense spice power (Ohligsberg!), in incredibly brilliant colours but never loud. From almost dry to wonderfully fruit-driven and creamy, every single one of those six wines with the deep red labels is simply great. At the top is the Ohligsberg Spätlese, which in spite of its sweetness brings back memories of Theo Haart’s legendary 1993 dry Ohligsberg. But the Spätlese will need time, whereas the „basic“ Mosel-Riesling und the Fuder with its enticing white currant aroma are ready to play now. And in spite of their youth (which is a sign of their minerality) they love the deep orange Möhrenlaibchen carrot cheese from Dottenfelder Hof. However, this is one of the rare cases in which this artisanal, not widely distributed biodynamic cheese is probably easier to get hold of than one of Julian’s rare, red-labeled bottles. Ah well, you can’t have everything.
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