2012 in our part of the Mosel was marked by overall rather cool weather throughout much of the year, with some warmer episodes. It required great patience waiting for the grapes to reach perfect ripeness. By mid-October we were still expecting a predominately "Kabinett vintage", one with moderate ripeness and rather high acidity. However, summer-like weather surprised us at the end of October and our wait to harvest paid off. The sunny days pushed the ripening in the vineyards and we ended up with a fantastic Spätlesen and Auslesen. We picked until November 17th, with some beautiful late botrytis occurring that allowed us a small quantity of noble rot.