1976 Egon Muller Scharzhof Scharzhofberger Riesling Trockenbeerenauslese

DECANTER – WINE LEGEND

This Wiltingen estate has long had an extraordinary reputation, especially for its sweet wines. Some dry wines were made from 1980 to 1997, but Egon Müller never found their quality exciting, so production was halted. Scharzhof was one of the first German estates to make eiswein. The first commercial vintage was 1961, though some earlier vintages were sold as auslesen. Despite the acclaim given to the eiswein, the greatest of the Scharzhof wines is surely the Riesling trockenbeerenauslese (TBA), which has been rewarded by collectors with record high prices at auction.

This was a great vintage in the Mosel-Saar-Ruwer. The summer was hot and very dry, and this led to grapes with perfect ripeness. Noble rot followed, and most estates were able to produce beerenauslese (BA) and TBA styles of great opulence and charm. If there was a drawback to 1976, it was the relatively low acidity. This favoured regions such as the Saar, with their naturally high acidity. Lower-quality wines are now probably past their best, but the top BAs and TBAs are still glorious.