No, we are not yet the world's best with our Pinot Noirs, even if the jubilant press, of which not only German wine journalism is now predominantly made up, has been stating this regularly for some years. This exaggeration encourages constant contradiction and thus tends to stand in the way of a serious appreciation of the actual achievements of local winegrowers in terms of Pinot Noir.
Photo: German Wine Institute, www.deutscheweine.de
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After all, the development in recent years is truly remarkable. The main thing is not to increase the qualities at the top - here, progress is naturally becoming more and more difficult. First-class Pinot Noir is only produced in exceptional locations from the best material at the right age. Even the most committed winemaker cannot change the fact that we do not have an abundance of such material - especially in precisely this combination.
What is more striking is the increasing number of producers of outstanding Pinot Noirs in the country. Every year, names appear in our list of best wines that until recently were not mentioned anywhere. We have to emphasise again and again that it is not only the top wines shown in this BEST OF that deserve our readers' attention. For it is precisely with the so-called smaller wines, those that most wine lovers can afford on a regular basis, that our winegrowers today are offering quite astonishing qualities. Here they are indeed already world leaders.
We tasted almost 500 German Spätburgunder red wines for this BEST OF last year. As always, the best of them are listed here and in a handy PDF listed. However, it is definitely worth looking at the results below the absolute top as well. Links to all the wines tasted (including some re-tastings of much older wines from our archive) with detailed descriptions as well as their producers can be found at here.
Vintage 2016
- 95WP "Devonschiefer R", Kreuzberg
- 94WP Bienenberg GG "Wildenstein", Huber
- 93WP Winklerberg Wanne GG "Häusleboden", Dr. Heger
- 92WP Schlossberg GG, Baltes
- 92WP Silberberg GG, Kreuzberg
- 92WP Sonnenberg GG, Kreuzberg
- 92WP Schlossberg GG, Huber
- 92WP Hundsrück GG, Füst
- 92WP Pfarrwingert GG, Meyer-Näkel
- 92WP Gärkammer GG, Adeneuer
- 92WP Kirchberg, Cellar - Black Eagle
- 92WP "Le Schulz", Chat Sauvage
- 91WP Hunsrück GG, Baltes
- 91WP Bienenberg GG, Huber
- 91WP Geisberg, Wageck-Pfaffmann
- 91WP Burgweg, Wageck-Pfaffmann
- 91WP Schlossberg, Chat Sauvage
- 91WP Berg, Prince
- 91WP Berg, Baltes
- 91WP Bischofsberg GG, Baltes
- 91WP Mönchberg, Bertram
- 91WP Kräuterberg GG, Meyer-Näkel
- 91WP Vorderer Winklerberg GG, Dr. Heger
- 91WP Lämmler GG, Schnaitmann
- 91WP Kirchtürmchen GG, Deutzerhof
- 91WP Schloßberg GG, Fürst
- 91WP Caviar, Ress
- 90WP Forstberg GG, Dautel
- 90WP Eichberg GG, Keller - Black Eagle
- 90WP Johannisberg, Bischel
- 90WP Paterberg GG, St. Antony
- 90WP Herrenberg GG "Spermen R", Seeger
- 90WP Winklerberg Winklen GG "Rappenecker", Dr. Heger
- 90WP Schlossberg GG, Keller - Black Eagle
- 90WP "Pinot Noir", Jülg
- 90WP Höllenberg, Chat Sauvage
- 90WP Drachenstein, Chat Sauvage
- 90WP Schlossberg GG, Dr. Heger
- 90WP Burghalde GG, Haidle
- 90WP Sommerhalde GG, Huber
- 90WP Kapellenberg, Chat Sauvage
- 90WP Silberberg GG, Meyer-Näkel
- 90WP Enselberg GG, Keller - Black Eagle
- 90WP Forstberg, Bertram
- 90WP Rosenthal, Bertram
- 90WP Horn GG "Pares", Neus
- 89WP Schlenzenberg GG, Diefenhardt
- 89WP Horn GG, Neus
- 89WP Hell, Thörle
- 89WP Schupen GG, Dautel
- 89WP "Pinot Noir", Breuer
- 89WP "Muschelkalk", Enderle & Moll
- 89WP "S", Meyer-Näkel
- 89WP Eck GG, Deutzerhof
- 89WP Goldberg, Wageck-Pfaffmann
- 89WP Lorch, Chat Sauvage
- 89WP Rüdesheim, Chat Sauvage
- 89WP Hell, Chat Sauvage
- 89WP Sonnenberg GG, Meyer-Näkel
- 89WP Lämmler GG, Heid
- 89WP Centgrafenberg GG, Fürst
- 89WP Bürgstadt, Fürst
- 89WP Klingenberg, Prince
- 89WP Gips GG "Marienglas", Aldinger
- 89WP Burgweg, Wageck-Pfaffmann
- 89WP Steinwingert, Becker
- 89WP Höllenberg GG, Allendorf
- 89WP Rosenthal GG, Adeneuer
- 89WP GG "Wingerte", Schlumberger
- 89WP Sonnenberg GG "RG", Bernhart
- 89WP GG, Proschwitz Castle
- 89WP Malterdingen "Old Vines", Huber
- 89WP "Buntsandstein IDA", Enderle & Moll
- 89WP Honigsack "Réserve", Gabel
Vintage 2015
- 92WP Geisberg, Wageck-Pfaffmann
- 91+WP Kirchberg GG, Salwey
- 90WP Kräuterberg, Burggarten
- 90WP Goldberg, Wageck-Pfaffmann
- 90WP Morsten GG "Felix", Keller
- 90WP "Grand Duc Reserve", Deutzerhof
- 90WP Feuerberg Kesselberg GG, Bercher
- 89WP Henkenberg GG, Salwey
- 89WP Sommerhalte, Kopp
- 89WP Steinwingert, Becker
- 89WP Burgweg, Wageck-Pfaffmann
- 89WP Walporzheim "Terraces", Maibachfarm
Vintage 2014
