RIESLING FROM THE NAHE SELLS FOR ALMOST 15,000 EURO AT AUCTION
A Riesling-Trockenbeerenauslese from the 1921 vintage brought a sensational result at the Bad Kreuznach wine auction.
An absolute rarity changed hands at the VDP (Verband Deutscher Prädikats- und Qualitätsweingüter) wine auction: a wine lover from Cologne offered 12,000 Euros for the only 0,7 Liter bottle of the 1921 Schlossböckelheimer Kupfergrube Trockenbeerenauslese in the cellars of the former Staatliche Weinbaudomäne. In the end the buyer, who was represented by a commissioner from the Rheingau, had to pay 14,994 Euros for the bottle, because 5 percent buyers commission, then 19 percent sales tax are also due.
A wine as rare as a “Blue Mauritius”
No wonder that Karsten Peter, the winemaker and director of the State Domain’s successor, Gut Hermannsberg, shone with satisfaction.
Before it was offered auctioneer Michael Prince Salm-Salm explained that 1921 was a vintage of the century and that the grapes used for this wine had a must weight of 309 degrees Oechsle. “As rare as a Blue Mauritius, but that you can only lick once,” emphasized Prince Salm. He promised that the wine had been recorked several times to keep it in top condition and that it must still be very drinkable.
During the almost four hour long auction in the Römerhalle Museum wines with a total value of 1.3 Million Euro changed hands – a record for the Nahe auction that has been held since 1910. Alone the 2017 vintage Rieslings offered by the 9 VDP Nahe wine estates, with a total 233 hectares of vineyards, sold for a total of 270,090 Euros. Often the prices for them were surprisingly high.