A vintage that will be remembered for when the rain wouldn't stop, and hard work paid dividends. Eventually. Above, grapes on the Christmann estate in the Pfalz late June 2021.
Three straight years of heat, drought and wines so concentrated that they seemed to belong more to Priorat than Pfalz forced German vintners and wine consumers alike to shift their expectations. Rich opulence appeared to be the new normal for German wines, cool climate be damned.
Then came 2021.
Unlike 2020, where conditions across Deutschland’s 103,000 ha (255,000 acres) of vines were relatively similar, it’s difficult to speak of 2021...