Rieslaner is a cross between Sylvaner and Riesling, developed in 1921. Despite being a lesser-known grape, it plays an important role in the history of this domaine. It was Hans-Günter Schwarz (the legendary cellar master who made the wines here from 1962 to 2002) who brought Rieslaner to Müller-Catoir and planted it in the Haardt’s Herzog vineyard. Schwarz made some fabled sweet wines from Herzog Rieslaner (which are nigh-on impossible to find), and since 2003, Franzen has enthusiastically taken up the torch.
Rieslaner’s inclination to botrytis (even in dry years) while retaining high acidity makes it Müller-Catoir’s most reliable sweet wine variety. Seeing the success of the Rieslaner in Herzog, Müller-Catoir used mass-selection cuttings to plant in the Gimmeldinger Schlössel, a vineyard on poor sandstone lying at the foot of the Haardt Mountains. The results have been equally spectacular. The back-vintage wines have been re-issued from the domaine this year and will surely live up to their legendary billing.
Alcohol 6%; acidity 19 g/L; residual sugar 400 g/L.