Opened in HK. Served blind; unsure of breathing time.
By luck, managed to nail the exact wine. However, the more I drink Gantenbein, the more I feel that I'm meant to like it because of the hype, but I don't actually enjoy drinking it that much. My sample size thus far are exclusively young vintages, but they all feel quite extracted, have some barnyard funk that needs a lot of time to blow off, and are dark brooding Pinots. Not really my thing.
This particular bottle was quite monolithic, and it didn't change much during the dinner. Not as good as the 19 I had recently either - that was a bit more approachable. This was very barnyard and heavy on the bacon fat. Perhaps this just needs an extra 5+ years before retrying. But then, at these prices, I'd probably just buy something else.
Still, an interesting bottle to blind. Thanks to L for sharing!
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During a MOT Gantenbein Masterclass. Martha and Daniel, who single-handedly created the first high quality Swiss Wine of World renown, starting 40 years ago, walked through their Kaizen approach of work, clonal selection, vineyard and Cuvée mgmt. The wines were consistently of high quality. I wish there were more Gantenbeins in the Swiss wine landscape, especially the Romandie. TN: Expressive nose here, with bacon and dark fruit. Clearly riper than the 2017 but given the generally cool place, no sings of over-ripe tones. Cacon, dark fruit, smoke and cherry Creamy palate. A success. 94+
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Rubinrot und mit deutlich Holzaromen, viel Mokka, dahinter reiffruchtig. Im Gaumen zugänglich, ein Schmeicher, merklich Gerbstoff, satte Frucht, noch jugendlich, mit schöner Balance und guten Reserven. 2026 bis 2036+
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on the nose overwhelming wood aromas such as smoke, wet wood and coffee. but without the vanilla touch that I find in american wines. more of a smoke-wood touch and not creamyness accompained by some classic swiss pinot barnyard. a little „stinky“ to some degree, which I like in general.
medium tannins red berries. but again: the fruit and the terroir cannot shine as it gets overwhelmed by the wooden tone. not enough acidity and drinkflow for me.
I have to admit that it is really elegant on the palate and after some time in the glass it becomes juicy and agreable.
completely overpriced imho.
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linear and clean, 2h decanted. Turf and black coffee, red cherry, dried herbs and earthy base notes. Juicy and fresh palate. Great tension and structure leading to an amazingly layered finish. Such a sweet and yummy red berry fruit! Every single time one of my favorite vintages ever for Gantenbein.
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Pure, feminine and approachable with subtle oak treatment. But the wine fades in the glass after a few hours. Still very enjoyable but very overpriced.
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No notes taken. This is still the full bodied, dark and dense monster of a Pinot Noir with loads of oak that will need time to integrate. Definitely not my favorite vintage - at least at this stage. The complexity is there, the precision is good too, good weight and length but everything will need to come together and integrate better. I would wait at least 5 more years. Tasted side by side with the Donatsch Unique 2018 (92 pts) which showed ligther and purer and will likely be the better wine but compared to the first two bottles, the wine has now closed down and the fruit is gone giving more space to some oaky notes. Here to it‘s better to wait a few years.
Decanting: PnP, followed over 40 minutes with little change. I don‘t think that at this stage a long decant could change things.
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Small Gantenbein vertical with 2017/2018/2019. It was a great opportunity to check-in on the 3 latest vintages of the Swiss Pinot Noir icon. A few years back I liked this wine a lot right from the start but my preferences have shifted a bit and in many vintages it is just too powerful and with too much wood for my taste. Being a leaner vintage, 2017 (94+pts) was the winner for me (again) as the wine shines with purity and precision. 2018 (90pts), a very hot year, is still my least favorite vintage in many years as has just too much of everything and despite its high complexity. The new 2019 (92pts) vintage is promising but will need time to integrate.
TN: Dark, dense nose with dark red and dark fruit, crushed rocks, toast and oaky aromas. On the palate this medium+ bodied, quite strong with some edgy tannins (for a Pinot), the wine is quite concentrated and extracted and shows dark fruits, dark red fruits, lots of not yet integrated oak and toasty notes. Good length and you can sense all the complexity underneath the oaky layer. This will need time.
Decanting: Not decanted but would need a lot of air. Better just wait 5 to 10 years for the oak to integrate and the wine shed its baby fat.
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Decanted briefly, but that wasn't even necessary. Third bottle in 12 months and I really have to slow this down otherwise I'll run out of stock soon! Another outstanding bottle with a very consistent performance. Even this young this is one of my favorite vintages ever. Refined, more humble and elegant than usual yet still commanding with its presence. Signature earthy backbone with a precise red berry fruit and spicy accents. Fresh with great balance and a long, complete finish.
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Beautifully smoky and earthy, cedar wood and cigar box orbiting a well-defined fruit core of ripe red and dark cherry as well as wild strawberries. The aromatic complexity is limited, but what’s there is intense and crafted with awe-inspiring precision. Fresh and juicy with impeccable balance and fantastic consistency from attack all the way to the finish. One of my favourites from Gantenbein already now. Addendum: Just realized I already popped a bottle 8 months ago and came to the same conclusion.
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First meeting with the newest vintage. This wine is extremly packed and has so much substance. No vintage since 2013 was so dark and dense at release, which might hint at the long-term potential of the wine. But this young and without extensive decanting, it was not the treat a young Gantenbein usually is. Nobody in the group, who had it double blind, guessed it to be Pinot Noir (Syrah was the main guess) due to the density, weight and exuberant ripe dark fruit. It will be interesting to revisit the wine in a year or two to see if that was enough time for the wine to have shed at least some of its baby fat. My guess is that it will need 10+ years minimum (the 2013 is not yet ready) to fully open up and especially to gain elegance. 90 points today. The question for me is, if this turns into a 2013 (which will be fantastic) or if it will always remain this too bold, too ripe wine. I wouldn‘t yet bet on a good outcome (maybe they overdid it with the green harvest and deleafing with the really hot summer afterwards).
TN: A massive wall of various dark fruits (a bit riper than other vintages before), just hints of red fruits, herbs, toasted oak, wet earth, spices. Super intense on the nose and palate. High complexity, good precision. Dense, with weight and punch. Tannins are round but still quite noticeable, good freshness. Overall, quite balanced eventhough its too powerful on every level.
Decanting: Not decanted. If you have to open a bottle today, I would decant it for at least 6 hours (better even a few hours the day before).
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A fresh arrival I’ve been awaiting anxiously. Signature dry earthy and smoky notes with a red cherry fruit. Mineral schist and herbal complexity of rosemary and thyme embedded in a savory frame. There is even some roasted coffee beans lingering in the background. Vibrant palate, bristling with energy and supple tannin. Despite the youthfulness already incredibly approachable offering a big, fat bag of joy. Impressive delineation and precision. This could easily become one of the best ever for this iconic winery, already matching the 2013 with a good chance of overtaking it before long.
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4/30/2024 - oxwombat wrote: 91 Points
Opened in HK. Served blind; unsure of breathing time.
By luck, managed to nail the exact wine. However, the more I drink Gantenbein, the more I feel that I'm meant to like it because of the hype, but I don't actually enjoy drinking it that much. My sample size thus far are exclusively young vintages, but they all feel quite extracted, have some barnyard funk that needs a lot of time to blow off, and are dark brooding Pinots. Not really my thing.
This particular bottle was quite monolithic, and it didn't change much during the dinner. Not as good as the 19 I had recently either - that was a bit more approachable. This was very barnyard and heavy on the bacon fat. Perhaps this just needs an extra 5+ years before retrying. But then, at these prices, I'd probably just buy something else.
Still, an interesting bottle to blind. Thanks to L for sharing!
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3/3/2024 - Collector1855 wrote: 94 Points
During a MOT Gantenbein Masterclass. Martha and Daniel, who single-handedly created the first high quality Swiss Wine of World renown, starting 40 years ago, walked through their Kaizen approach of work, clonal selection, vineyard and Cuvée mgmt. The wines were consistently of high quality. I wish there were more Gantenbeins in the Swiss wine landscape, especially the Romandie.
TN: Expressive nose here, with bacon and dark fruit. Clearly riper than the 2017 but given the generally cool place, no sings of over-ripe tones. Cacon, dark fruit, smoke and cherry Creamy palate. A success. 94+
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3/1/2024 - vvWine.ch wrote: 92 Points
Rubinrot und mit deutlich Holzaromen, viel Mokka, dahinter reiffruchtig. Im Gaumen zugänglich, ein Schmeicher, merklich Gerbstoff, satte Frucht, noch jugendlich, mit schöner Balance und guten Reserven. 2026 bis 2036+
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7/23/2023 - La Sprezzatura wrote: 92 Points
on the nose overwhelming wood aromas such as smoke, wet wood and coffee. but without the vanilla touch that I find in american wines. more of a smoke-wood touch and not creamyness
accompained by some classic swiss pinot barnyard. a little „stinky“ to some degree, which I like in general.
medium tannins
red berries. but again: the fruit and the terroir cannot shine as it gets overwhelmed by the wooden tone. not enough acidity and drinkflow for me.
I have to admit that it is really elegant on the palate and after some time in the glass it becomes juicy and agreable.
completely overpriced imho.
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10/17/2022 - MarshallLi Likes this wine: 93 Points
Impressive swiss pinot noirs
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8/19/2022 - sirpat00 wrote: 95 Points
linear and clean, 2h decanted. Turf and black coffee, red cherry, dried herbs and earthy base notes. Juicy and fresh palate. Great tension and structure leading to an amazingly layered finish. Such a sweet and yummy red berry fruit! Every single time one of my favorite vintages ever for Gantenbein.
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6/24/2022 - steinersing wrote: 92 Points
Agree with others - too young to drink. But good intensity fruit.
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6/9/2022 - Burgnick Likes this wine: 90 Points
Pure, feminine and approachable with subtle oak treatment. But the wine fades in the glass after a few hours. Still very enjoyable but very overpriced.
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9/19/2021 - Cailles wrote: 91 Points
No notes taken. This is still the full bodied, dark and dense monster of a Pinot Noir with loads of oak that will need time to integrate. Definitely not my favorite vintage - at least at this stage. The complexity is there, the precision is good too, good weight and length but everything will need to come together and integrate better. I would wait at least 5 more years. Tasted side by side with the Donatsch Unique 2018 (92 pts) which showed ligther and purer and will likely be the better wine but compared to the first two bottles, the wine has now closed down and the fruit is gone giving more space to some oaky notes. Here to it‘s better to wait a few years.
Decanting: PnP, followed over 40 minutes with little change. I don‘t think that at this stage a long decant could change things.
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6/23/2021 - Cailles wrote: 90 Points
Small Gantenbein vertical with 2017/2018/2019. It was a great opportunity to check-in on the 3 latest vintages of the Swiss Pinot Noir icon. A few years back I liked this wine a lot right from the start but my preferences have shifted a bit and in many vintages it is just too powerful and with too much wood for my taste. Being a leaner vintage, 2017 (94+pts) was the winner for me (again) as the wine shines with purity and precision. 2018 (90pts), a very hot year, is still my least favorite vintage in many years as has just too much of everything and despite its high complexity. The new 2019 (92pts) vintage is promising but will need time to integrate.
TN: Dark, dense nose with dark red and dark fruit, crushed rocks, toast and oaky aromas. On the palate this medium+ bodied, quite strong with some edgy tannins (for a Pinot), the wine is quite concentrated and extracted and shows dark fruits, dark red fruits, lots of not yet integrated oak and toasty notes. Good length and you can sense all the complexity underneath the oaky layer. This will need time.
Decanting: Not decanted but would need a lot of air. Better just wait 5 to 10 years for the oak to integrate and the wine shed its baby fat.
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5/13/2021 - sirpat00 Likes this wine: 96 Points
Decanted briefly, but that wasn't even necessary. Third bottle in 12 months and I really have to slow this down otherwise I'll run out of stock soon! Another outstanding bottle with a very consistent performance. Even this young this is one of my favorite vintages ever. Refined, more humble and elegant than usual yet still commanding with its presence. Signature earthy backbone with a precise red berry fruit and spicy accents. Fresh with great balance and a long, complete finish.
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1/9/2021 - sirpat00 Likes this wine: 96 Points
Beautifully smoky and earthy, cedar wood and cigar box orbiting a well-defined fruit core of ripe red and dark cherry as well as wild strawberries. The aromatic complexity is limited, but what’s there is intense and crafted with awe-inspiring precision. Fresh and juicy with impeccable balance and fantastic consistency from attack all the way to the finish. One of my favourites from Gantenbein already now. Addendum: Just realized I already popped a bottle 8 months ago and came to the same conclusion.
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9/22/2020 - Cailles wrote: 90 Points
First meeting with the newest vintage. This wine is extremly packed and has so much substance. No vintage since 2013 was so dark and dense at release, which might hint at the long-term potential of the wine. But this young and without extensive decanting, it was not the treat a young Gantenbein usually is. Nobody in the group, who had it double blind, guessed it to be Pinot Noir (Syrah was the main guess) due to the density, weight and exuberant ripe dark fruit. It will be interesting to revisit the wine in a year or two to see if that was enough time for the wine to have shed at least some of its baby fat. My guess is that it will need 10+ years minimum (the 2013 is not yet ready) to fully open up and especially to gain elegance. 90 points today. The question for me is, if this turns into a 2013 (which will be fantastic) or if it will always remain this too bold, too ripe wine. I wouldn‘t yet bet on a good outcome (maybe they overdid it with the green harvest and deleafing with the really hot summer afterwards).
TN: A massive wall of various dark fruits (a bit riper than other vintages before), just hints of red fruits, herbs, toasted oak, wet earth, spices. Super intense on the nose and palate. High complexity, good precision. Dense, with weight and punch. Tannins are round but still quite noticeable, good freshness. Overall, quite balanced eventhough its too powerful on every level.
Decanting: Not decanted. If you have to open a bottle today, I would decant it for at least 6 hours (better even a few hours the day before).
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5/23/2020 - sirpat00 wrote: 96 Points
A fresh arrival I’ve been awaiting anxiously. Signature dry earthy and smoky notes with a red cherry fruit. Mineral schist and herbal complexity of rosemary and thyme embedded in a savory frame. There is even some roasted coffee beans lingering in the background. Vibrant palate, bristling with energy and supple tannin. Despite the youthfulness already incredibly approachable offering a big, fat bag of joy. Impressive delineation and precision. This could easily become one of the best ever for this iconic winery, already matching the 2013 with a good chance of overtaking it before long.
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