Müller corner

One of Germany’s most iconic wineries, which produces the world’s most expensive white wine, Egon Müller has a rich history, and its bottles are extremely sought after by collectors around the globe.

When guessing what the world’s most expensive white wine might be, sweet Riesling does not sound like a likely contender. Yet it’s true – Egon Müller ’s Riesling Scharzhofberger TBA regularly sells for upwards of €10,000 (£8,448) per bottle, making DRC’s Montrachet almost pale in comparison. Egon Müller is a name that makes any wine enthusiast go misty-eyed. Perched on steep slopes of schist near the Saar, this revered domaine’s TBA is sold at the annual wine auction in Trier – where a select few German winemakers sell some of their most prized wines – for stratospheric prices. At iDealwine, we have witnessed the renaissance of German fine wines at close hand, as collectors look to secondary channels for releases from winemakers such as Müller. German wines are categorised by their sweetness levels, and TBA, short for Trockenbeerenauslese, sits at the top of the scale, produced using individually selected botrytised grapes. Egon Müller ’s exceptionally rare TBA is only produced when conditions permit; the last vintage produced before 2017 was the 2011. When it is produced, only 100 to 400 bottles are made, as the yields from the highly concentrated, shrivelled grapes are so low. The 2010 vintage of Müller ’s TBA is currently estimated at €9,500 on iDealwine. In 2019, it was sold for €7,296.

While it doesn’t change hands for the colossal sums seen for the TBA, the estate’s Eiswein is also performing well, the 2002 vintage having sold for €1,474 last autumn. Egon Müller ’s prized Scharzhofberger Auslese (meaning late harvest) is also actively sought out by collectors. The 1976 – an excellent year for German Riesling, and more specifically Scharzhofberg – sold for just over €1,000 in 2018, the only time it has ever appeared at auction. The 2010 consistently sold for around €250 until this August, when it reached €368 at auction. Even the estate’s Kabinett is progressing, with all vintages showing price increases. The 2004 sold in May for €203, up from €120 in February. Across the board, Egon Müller releases are proving to be sure investments.

Egon Müller ’s Riesling Scharzhofberger TBA regularly sells for upwards of €10,000 per bottle, making DRC’s Montrachet almost pale in comparison

RECLAIM THE VINEYARD

The estate’s story began in 1797, in the Mosel-Saar-Ruwer region, when Jean- Jacques Koch bought the Scharzhof farm from the French government. He built what is still the domaine’s cellar. At the time, the Scharzofberg vineyard belonged to a monastery, but when the adjoining land was occupied by French Revolutionary troops, the church was stripped of its estate. Koch was able to reclaim the vineyard, and the domaine was born. When he died, his daughter Elisabeth, wife of Felix Müller, inherited the land. Several purchases and inheritances meant that the couple was able to double the size of their domaine by the 1850s. Their son, Egon Müller I, inherited the domaine and made it his life’s work to establish its reputation as one of the finest in Germany. One generation followed another right down to Egon Müller IV, who became the sole manager of the family estate after his father Egon III died in 2001.

AN ICONIC ESTATE

Today, the Egon Müller estate is truly iconic. Located in Wiltingen, its vineyard spans 8.3 hectares in the famed Scharzhofberger hill – including 3ha of ungrafted Riesling vines from the 19 th century – and a further 4ha of Le Gallais. Scharzhof is one of the most revered sites in the Mosel, known for its south-facing, very steep slopes of schist. As well as providing excellent drainage for the vines, the slate soils are rich in minerals but poor in other nutrients: the grapes therefore ripen very slowly while developing extraordinary intensity. Yields are kept low and chemical treatments to a minimum. Winemaking is staunchly traditional: grapes are harvested by hand then pressed without any skin contact before being fermented in 1,000-litre oak casks in the domaine’s cool cellars. The wines are usually bottled six months later.

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A tributary of the Mosel, the colder winds in the Saar make for tauter wines with even more well-defined acidity. These are racy, nervy wines with masses of crisp acidity, dazzling fruit and layers of flavour. Perhaps most importantly, these wines can improve in the bottle for decades, easily lasting half a century or more. The wines become even more captivating as they age: drier, more mineral, honeyed rather than outright sweet. Egon Müller himself says that with age you don’t categorise these wines as sweet or dry any more, citing the excellent vintages of the 1970s: 1971, 1975 and 1976.

Up until this year –a complicated vintage, to say the least – the Mosel has been blessed with a series of good vintages, in part thanks to a warmer climate that has allowed grapes to fully ripen and give concentrated flavours. The 2019 Auslese was given 99 points by the Wine Advocate, while the 2018 TBA received the perfect 100-point score, factors that will undoubtedly contribute to the already significant demand for these coveted releases. One thing’s for sure, it’s an exciting time for German wine, and the collectors are coming.