WTN: A couple of Spätburgunder

Robert König Assmannshäuser Höllenberg Spätburgunder QbA Trocken 2008 -Rheingau, Germany

Lighter-bodied and ruby colored. Very pretty, feminine, fresh red fruit aromas. bright, high-toned strawberry and raspberry fruit, nutmeg, with a supple and juicy texture. Delicious despite being relatively simple.

Salwey Spätburgunder QbA Trocken 2008 -Baden, Germany

Black cherry fruit, a little sweet red beet, smoke, gun-flint, sharper acidity, but plenty of body. 13% alc


Dr Heger Merdinger Bühl Spätburgunder QbA 2007 -Baden, Germany

Smoky, sweet Spanish chorizo paprika, raspberry, black cherry, nice depth of flavor and good balance. It would compare favorably to entry-level Oregonian Pinot Noir (The OR or Willamette Valley bottlings from A to Z, Cloudline, Lange, WVV, Ponzi etc.) and certainly to the similarly-priced CA Pinots.

Bassermann-Jordan Pfalz Spätburgunder Trocken 2008 -Pfalz, Germany

Not lacking for color -2008 being a rather fine Pfälzer vintage after all. Nice black cherry fruit and a pretty floral component. It is a clean, honest expression of Pinot Noir without the tartness or herbaceous character found in most of the 2008 red Burgs I´ve tasted, and none of the thickness or cola flavors of 2008 Oregon Pinot, but rather a ´tweener´style that I like very much for the price. 13,5%

Cheers,
Bill

Recent trips to germany have opened my eyes to the quality of the best of these wines. Perhaps hard to find the best examples outside germany but worth pursuing.

Anthony – They may not be easy to find, but quite a few of Germany’s best Spätburgunder producers are imported to the U.S., including Huber, Rebholz, Becker, Bercher, Heger, Salwey, Schnaitmann, Fürst.

I had a bottle of the 06 Meyer-Nakel Spatburgunder from the Ahr a couple of weeks ago that I thought was terrific – fruity, light, refreshing, and surprisingly good for a year when it rained all summer. I’ve had so many disappointing Spatburgunders over the years, either underfruited or overoaked. This was a great value at $22 or so.

Unfortunately, everyone else in the group loathed it and thought I was out of my mind. Oh, well…

Many, but by no means all or even a majority, of German Spätburgunder producers have learned to dial back the extraction and oak from what they were producing several years ago. Although the top ones can be extremely expensive, you can find some amazingly good ones for $25 or even substantially less than that.

Coincidentally, I just had my first Spatburgunder (BTW how does one insert an umlaut?) a couple days ago. It was a 2008 Messmer Spatburgunder Trocken from Pfalz, 1 L bottle for $16. Interesting little wine reminiscent of a Beaujolais with a slight spritz. Had quite a bit of color, low-medium acidity, fresh dark fruit, lighter body, simple, not much tannin, short finish and the aforementioned spritz. Overall, quite pleasant and interesting for the price.

Claude is right. I just talked to Rudi and he says wonderous things are going on at Furst for their reds as well as Kunstler and Von Buhl.

Hello all,

As some of you probably know, Pinot Noir has been and continues to be rapidly planted making Germany the third largest producer of the grape in the world (after France and the US.) It is currently virtually tied with Müller-Thurgau as the second most planted vine here after Riesling. This is not to say that it is a new arrival. Some estimates put Pinot Noir arriving in Germany in the 9th century and it has been documented here at least since the 16th c. The amazing string of warmish vintages over the last decade and a half have pushed must weights up to a consistantly respectable range, there has been an almost total abandonment of Lieblich and halbtrocken styles, and as has been mentioned, the use of new barrique has been dialed back.

The only problem that I see for the US consumer is that the greatest wines are priced like Grand Cru Burgundy in the United States. It isn’t uncommon for the top producers (many of them listed above) to sell the top wines at 40, 50, 60, 70€ in Germany (where many people will pay top-dollar for Made-In-Germany wine rather than get it from France.) These same producers would be foolish to lower thier prices for export on small production wines when they get full price at home. When you add transportation and warehouse costs, taxes, 3-tier system mark-ups and exchange rate to 60€, the price is dear indeed (and the same would be true if I wanted to drink Bergstrom or Thomas or Bethel Heights Casteel Reserve here.) Fortunately, there are a lot of good value Spätburgunders being produced (the wines that I posted on above are all 9-13€) that should be both affordable and that offer a lot of value compared to many of the $15-$25 CA or OR wines (some of which can be of course, very good.) Another problem that I’ve heard addressed is whether or not the US needs another source for Pinot Noir (what with CA, OR, France, Chile, NZ…) AND on top of that, the vast majority of US consumers (and German consumers as well) have no idea that Spätburgunder is Pinot Noir. Don’t fear the umlaut! Hopefully, all of these obstacles can be overcome, because I think that there are some excellent wines worth discovering.

John, 2006 was an extraordinary vintage for the Ahr, as the Eifel mountains sheltered the valley from rain and you had some very high Oechsle readings. I would buy whatever I could find within reason.

Curious about the spritz in the Meßmer, Steven. I normally like that wine a lot for the price. I hope that there aren’t re-ferment issues.

Cheers everyone,

Bill

Bill,
Thanks for the details, I loved the line “don’t fear the umlaut”! (I just wish I could find how to insert one…) I’m not sure about re-fermention on the Messmer, it could be. I think it is more than simple bottle variation though as the retailer warned me about it ahead of time, suggesting it is consistent at least with the cases they received. The spritz was subtle, but noticeable, and it did become less prominent after being opened a couple hours. I did not find it unpleasant, if anything it made it a bit more refreshing in the summer heat. However it does make it difficult to take the wine seriously, which for the price wasn’t part of the expectation.
Cheers,
Steve

Any shops in the US that carry a good selection?

More wonderous than what they were producing a couple of years ago?

Unfortunately, Furst’s reds are awfully expensive here – if you can get them.

K&L has a good selection of inexpensive ones - 8 wines total (including one rosé), all but one between $11 and $22 (and the most expensive is $42).

I haven’t checked, but I would imagine Crush and Chambers St. might have some interesting ones, too.

Here’s a non-pro wine-searcher search for Spätburgunder in the US: http://www.wine-searcher.com/find/spatburgunder/1/usa.

BTW, John, it shows Fürst 2005 (a top vintage for Spätburgunder) available for $35.

Here are my notes on two separate visits to Furst with the '04 and '05 Spatburgunders tasted including the one Claude mentioned.

Rockss and Fruit: My Trip to Germany redux: Pt XX- Franconia with Paul and Sebastian Furst (recent trip notes included too!)" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

As you know, Lyle, you don’t have to sell me on Furst’s reds. I visited in August 2006 (the only sunny day the week I was in Germany!) and scored a bottle of the 2004 Klingenberg and the 2004 Fruhburger. Unfortunately, I was there the week after the arrests in London of the transatlantic bomb plotters and security was a bitch, so I couldn’t bring back much wine. But the next spring I enlisted a friend who was visiting Berlin to bring back another bottle of the Klingenberg since you weren’t able to get Rudy to import it!

Any tips on when to open them? I’ve figured I’d treat them like premier cru Burgundy and give them more time.

Had this (as well as a Von Buhl) back in '99 on a Rudi trip…blew me away as I had no idea they were producing Pinot in Germany. I fell in love with the sheer drinkability of these wines.

I’ll be there in about 10-11 days and will do extensive reports like the one I posted. Rudi says all his guys have dialed back the oak and there is much more terroir, fruit expression. I’m missing Becker but I’ll taste Spat at Rebholz, Von Buhl, Kunstler, Furst, Heger, Salwey and maybe Juliuspital, although not sure if they make any. Never been to them or even had their wines. Rudi raves about them. Excited about that visit.

If you want to wait 2 weeks, I’ll get tips from the Fursts. I’d open both know. I have a little bit of Spatburgunder in the cellar. Some Furst '05’s, Heger 05’s GG’s (Ihringer Winklerberg, Achkarrer Schlossberg and they will be drunk within the year. Though the Fruhburgunder maybe sooner? Love that grape.

Yes, please ask their advice on drinking windows for the 04s. Thanks!

That Germanys white wines are among the best in the world is probably an old hat already. On the other hand: Many Spätburgunder from 15 years ago were simple wines with no soul - a fruit drink stylistically. Things have changed. Some of the very best producer such as Huber, Becker, Fürst make better and better wines year after year. Unfortunately the top wines became very expensive - even if you buy ex Chateau. But they actually have little problems to sell their stuff.

Try the entry level wines from the best producer (not neccessarily the very cheapest ones) in the village level categorie. You will find wines which are worth your hard earned dollar. But don´t compare the wines to French Burgundy all the time. Many German Pinot producer I know don´t like the comparism too much since they think it´s not neccessary to copy the French product but find an own way.