Journalists have to speak out, by profession, even if they may only have a limited picture of what they are writing or talking about. Robert Parker's legendary review of the German Pinot Noir is an apt example of this rampant professional disease. Apparently, the points guru, or his collaborator, didn't have a clue when writing his last book, "Parkers Weinguide" (2003). Yet he would have had time enough to deal with the subject. German Pinot Noirs of astonishing quality have been around since 1990 at the latest, and they were not even really rare, as an unusual comparative tasting in Liel in the Markgräflerland revealed.
You can get fifteen-year-old wines from Bordeaux, Rioja and Tokai without any problems. Finding fifteen-year-old Pinot Noirs, on the other hand, is a bit of a feat. Sigbert Hiss, a wine consultant from Liel who currently lives near London, set out to achieve this feat. The result was 24 late and one early Burgundies from the 1990 vintage, all from Germany, most from Baden. The bottles were all in excellent condition. They came directly from the wineries' archives or from well-maintained cellars, such as that of the Hotel Bareiss in Baiersbronn.
Even the first flight, with the working title "Winemakers' Cooperatives and Unknown Wineries", surprised the round of testers - which, by the way, was small but all the more top-class: Marcus Hofschuster, chief taster of Wein Plus, Jürgen von der Mark, independent oenologist and Master of Wine, Zsolt Pekker, editor of the Nose of the Margrave, Michael Schmidt from London, also a journalist and contributor to the Wine Report, and Jürgen Dietsche, wine connoisseur and lover from Bad Krozingen. The very first wine, a Waldulmer Pfarrberg Spätlese from the Benz winery, was very ripe and of retirement age, but better than the working title suggested. The Gottenheimer Kirchberg from the Stefan Hess winery was a little better, with a little more residual sugar, which made its retirement a little sweeter.
Far better than its reputation - The German Pinot Noir |
Similar and better things turned up much more often in the later course than the assembled experts could have dreamed of. "I would not have thought that after fifteen years there would still be so many wines that were not only drinkable, but downright classy," said Sigbert Hiss. Of course, there were also some that had degraded considerably in the meantime. The Spätlese from the Burkheimer Feuerberg ( Bercher Winery), the table wine from the small oak barrel from Salwey or a QbA from the magnum bottle from Weinhaus Heger had been at their best for some time.
The nose of some of the wines suggested a similarly worn-out condition, but on the palate they amazed with their intact structure, density and even strong fruit aromas. For example, the Auslese from the Burkheimer Feuerberg by Bercher, or the table wine R from the Rebholz winery , which stood out for its very good balance.
Two series with a total of 10 wines were dedicated to the Kaiserstuhl. In this round, a Spätlese from the Schneider winery (Endingen) made the best impression. By the way, the wines were tasted blind, only after the discussion of the individual flights were the names of the presenters revealed. No community points were awarded. However, the consensus was unanimous in the case of Schneider.
A heated controversy arose over the QbA "R" from Huber, which was the only Breisgau wine to land in the second Kaiserstühl flight. The wine presented itself in deep blue-black, with a very powerful bouquet, which some described as dark fruits, aniseed, cassis and elderberry, others as intrusive blackcurrant blossom and heartier. On the palate, it presented itself with similar aromas as in the nose - each in contrasting interpretations. There was widespread agreement on two points: This wine, which did not show any signs of age, was the freshest in the flight; for a Pinot Noir, however, it showed a rather untypical aroma. However, Sigbert Hiss pointed out that Pinot Noirs from certain sites - for example from Assmannshäuser Höllenberg in the Rheingau - very often have a cassis note, so this is not at all untypical for the grape variety. In the 90s sample, this flavour was still clearly present in two other wines, the selections from Marget and Kühling-Gillot.
Michael Schmidt nevertheless imposed an "import ban" on Huber for London. "The English know too little about German Pinot Noir; such an atypical wine would cause too much confusion," he explained his dictum with a twinkle in his eye. Sigbert Hiss has made it his mission to make German wine in general and Pinot Noir in particular better known in the United Kingdom. This tasting is to be repeated there shortly with the participation of the "Wine Reporter" Schmidt & renowned journalists.
Another surprise of the afternoon was the inner-Baden comparison between Markgräflerland and Kaiserstuhl. Since all the wines were available for re-tasting throughout the tasting, it was done with great effort - the tasters took half an hour just to compare the three or four most interesting wines from the two regions. All in all, the panel spent almost five hours with the wines and their intensive discussion, and were also able to include the development of the wines in the open bottles and in the glass in their judgement.
Of the six Markgräfler wines, a Kirchberg Auslese by Soder (Istein), an Auslese from the Hügelheimer Höllberg by Marget and a Müllheimer Pfaffenstück Auslese by Dörflinger impressed the most. The wines presented themselves mature, but fully up to the mark, with typical Pinot aromas and beautiful structure. For some of the jurors, they were on a par with the best Kaiserstühler, for others - such as the Franconian Hofschuster - the Markgräfler were even clearly ahead. Jürgen von der Mark provided a possible explanation: "This shows that the Kaiserstuhl is not at all ideal for Pinot. In an extremely hot year like 1990, it quickly becomes too dry and too hot on the stony soils. The cooler, more humid Markgräflerland then offers the vine better conditions."
Among the Markgräflers, too, there was one wine on which the discussion flared up. Some found the Hügelheimer Höllberg Auslese by Emil Marget terrific, others - because it was very untypical - beyond good and evil. What some found obtrusive syrupy aromas, others found brilliant fruit notes paired with elegance. The consensus was again on the lack of typicity; the wine was more reminiscent of Cabernet than Pinot. Jürgen von der Mark found a succinct description: "This wine expresses the decadence of the 1990 vintage - and that is wonderful! Why shouldn't the winemaker realise what the vintage offers him?"
But the fact that the last flight also outperformed the best Baden wines - which were always seen in front - was mainly due to Fürst's two wines. His Spätburgunder and Frühburgunder, the latter from Centgrafenberg, were certainly the best wines of the whole round. The Spätburgunder combined leathery-animalic scents with vegetable aromas, presented itself fresh on the palate and with perfect structure. The Frühburgunder was a bit more edgy, very animalic, with cheesy & mushroomy aromas at the beginning and a slightly salty finish. Michael Schmidt was enthusiastic: "This shows that the difficult Frühburgunder can be on a par with the Pinot noir if it is worked by an expert. Especially on very mineral soils, it can show its particular strengths." Almost on a par with the others was a wine that probably caused the biggest surprise among most of the participants: the Auslese from Kühling-Gillot made it clear that Rheinhessen can also have its say when it comes to the best and longest-lived Pinot Noirs in Germany.
Although the tasters can without exception be described as connoisseurs and friends of German Spätburgunder, they were all surprised at the level to which many German vintners had already reached in 1990. Even some of the over-aged, already largely oxidised wines showed that they had seen much better days. A Pinot noir, everyone thought, was not made to last forever, and fifteen years is a proud age for this variety, even in Burgundy. "Above all, you have to consider that the winegrowers were still at the beginning of their quality development at that time," Marcus Hofschuster emphasised. "Since then, they have made enormous gains and have become much better." Perhaps in the course of the 21st century, word will spread to America.
Unfortunately, the tastings are no longer available