Pinot noir blind tasting. Germany, Burgundy, Hungary.
Szeged, Hungary (at the"club")
Tasted November 15, 2013 by drbarta with 688 views
Introduction
Mainly I organized this event beacause I had no expereinces with german pinots. I selected three ones, each from pinot noir specialized regions, each from one the top producers of their districts. I put also some pretty much price compatible burgundies in the row for reference. Some of the participants were also curious how some hungarian pinots would look like amoung the more famous representatives of the variety, so we also put some of them into the row.
Flight 1 (9 notes)
Red
2009 Rudolf Fürst Klingenberger Spätburgunder
Germany, Franken
Tasted blind. Toasted flavours, some red berry fruit, earthiness. Medium body and intensity. Not much tannin, smooth, balanced with medium finish. Ok, but expected much more. 27 Euro.
Red
2007 Bernhard Huber Sommerhalde Spätburgunder R
Germany, Baden
Tasted blind. Intense nose with spiciness, lots of toasty oak. On the palate concentrated fruit seems to handle pretty well the obvious oak again. Very good depth, density with vivid, vibrant acidity and fine grained, dry, refreshing tannins. Has some youngish unsettled feeling, but good substance. 37 Euro.
Red
2011 Losonci Pinot Noir Mátra Gereg
Hungary, Felső-Magyarország, Mátra
Tasted blind. Juicy red fruits, mainly sour cherry. Medium-plus body, savoury, fruit driven, toothsome. Medium density on midpalate, vivid acidity, grippy tannins. Medium-plus finish. Has some youngish unsettlement, but really enjoyable. 24 Euro.
Red
2009 Meyer-Näkel Neuenahrer Sonnenberg Spätburgunder Großes Gewächs
Germany, Ahr
Tasted blind. Considerable toasty oak, concentrated red fruit, spicy-earthy notes. Very good depth, intensity of flavours, dense, expanding midpalate, focused, long finish. Has grip, yet smooth, rounded. Good one.45 Euro.
Red
2009 Tamás Pinot Noir Balatonfüred-Csopak
Hungary, Balaton, Balatonfüred-Csopak
Tasted blind. Fine, toasty oakiness, earth, mushrooms, thin berry fruits. Medium intensity of flavours, less substance than the previous ones. Medium density on midpalate, medium-plus finish. Pretty smooth and polished elements, good balance. 12 Euro. Good value for price.
Red
2007 Domaine Marquis d'Angerville Volnay 1er Cru Taillepieds
France, Burgundy, Côte de Beaune, Volnay 1er Cru
Tasted blind. So much more class in the nose than any others in the row. Beautifully complex with a whole spice-bazaar, flowers, well defined, concentrated fruit. (The oak is so discreet and integrated, much-much smarter than the germans' excessive toastiness.) Medium body. Deep and captivating intensity of flavours. The fruit is just shining, but lots of other layers here as well. Deeper, denser midpalate yet fine silkiness in the texture, longly unfolding sip, really good length. So fluently, effortlessly elegant,impeccable balance. This is just a beauty with all the pinot-magic, easily towers this row. 93-94 points. 55 Euro, it absolutely worth it.
Red
2009 Faiveley Mercurey 1er Cru Clos du Roy
France, Burgundy, Côte Chalonnaise, Mercurey 1er Cru
Tasted blind. Well-defined berry fruits, refined spiciness, smartly used, discreet, fine oak again. Medium-body. Good concentration of fruit, pure and intense, even has a hard time after the previous one. Good amount of structure, detailed and polished, very good balance, pretty long finish. Slighly less material than the top germans but shows more finesse. 22 Euro, best buy.
Red
2010 Vylyan Pinot Noir Villányi
Hungary, Dél-Pannónia, Villányi
Tasted blind. Red fruits, oak. Medium intensity of flavours, pleasantly vivid acidity. Quite simple, linear, medium finish. Enjoyable. 10 Euros.
Red
2010 A. et P. de Villaine Bourgogne Côte Chalonnaise La Digoine
France, Burgundy, Côte Chalonnaise, Bourgogne Côte Chalonnaise
Tasted blind. Fresh berry-fruits, earthiness, pinot-like spiciness. Medium body, good savour intensity, delicate, biteable. Good focus on midpalate, has drive, medium-plus finish. Fine grained, little dusty tannins, vivid acidity, has grip, clean and refreshing. Very good in its class. 20 Euro
Closing
There are some pretty good pinot noir substances in Germany for sure. But in my opinion Burgundy is just Burgundy. Even the cheaper burgs delievered much more refined "pinot like-ness". Germans are usually heavily oaked, I found them much less expressive. For the hungarians we did not have high expectations. They were usually way much cheaper than the other competitors, usually the wines were less serious as well, but all of them were ok and well consumable.
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