The 2025 vintage presents us with a collection that simply makes us happy. Each wine has a strong personality of its own. Added to this is an attractive fruitiness that captivates us, together with depth, brilliance, and pronounced minerality. We’re particularly pleased with the variety of Spätlesen. We don’t want to highlight one in particular. To be honest – each one is more beautiful than the next. Luckily, we don’t have to choose. But this is precisely why we don’t want to offer any Spätlese as an auction wine. In the Auslese category, too, hopes were high at first, but the vintage proved to be very “stingy” in terms of quantity, although the quality is fantastic. 

Until just before the harvest, our vineyards were in magnificent condition, showing many and, above all, very healthy grapes. It looked like it was going to be a “picture-perfect vintage,” like we experienced in 2018, so we were hoping for a stress-free and bountiful harvest. At least in terms of quality, our expectations were fulfilled. The journey of our grapes from the vineyard to the cellar turned out be more exciting than expected.

The year 2025 started off wet and mild. From February to mid-May, we had drier weather compared to the winter months, with continued mild conditions and many sunny days. Isolated thunderstorms and heavy rain followed at end of May. With rather cool, often rainy weather, the vines started the flowering in the first week of June. After flowering ended at the end of June, it became warm and sunny. July brought the long-awaited rain and thus ideal conditions for rapid and even growth of the vines. The midsummer August, luckily without harmful heat waves, ensured further magnificent development. An early start of harvest was long in sight.

At the finish line, our luck initially ran out. September didn’t show itself from its best side. Several low-pressure systems in succession brought heavy rainfall accompanied by relatively warm temperatures.

We started harvesting on September 15, 2025. While the health of the grapes varied greatly, we had to rethink and adjust our “picking strategy” from day to day. A strict, careful selection at the vine and careful but quick work were absolutely necessary to achieve perfect results. Once again, we were grateful to have our long-standing, experienced harvest team at our side, reinforced for the first time in 2025 by Philipp Veser, who, together with Mr. Amiri, takes care of our vineyards during the entire year. Further, very appreciated help came from interns, friends, and family. After a little more than three weeks, we were able to successfully complete the harvest on October 6, 2025,  – the earliest end of the harvest in the history of our winery.

We’re now delighted to present the new vintage. It offers a diverse spectrum ranging from expressive village-level wines to playful, fruity Kabinetts and exciting, aromatic Spätlesen, right through to a tiny amount of fine Auslese from Domprobst.

A special cask of Domprobst Kabinett and a small quantity of very noble, brilliant Auslese from Wehlener Sonnenuhr are the highlights of the vintage and are expected to be offered on Sunday, May 9, 2027, as part of the traditional auction of the VDP.Mosel-Saar-Ruwer GROSSER RING.

Weingut Willi Schaefer, February 2026