Spatburgunder at The Wine Country
The Wine Country, Signal Hill, CA
Tasted March 21, 2008 by Chidainey with 530 views
Introduction
Sit down evening tasting of newly arrived German Pinot Noir. All wines were decanted and returned to bottle two and a half hours before the tasting. Drank from Riedel Wineline Burgundy glasses. In general, the wines were more Burgundian in style as opposed to new world. They featured fine fruit that was not over extracted and that showed a fine sense of terrior. I tried to contain my enthusiasm and rate the wines conservatively.
Flight 1 - Heger, Meyer-Nakel & Rebholz (3 notes)
Red
2006 Meyer-Näkel Spätburgunder
Germany, Ahr
Decent sized nose of red fruit and minerals. Minerally medium sized red fruit. OK balance with a nice finish. Fruit has some edge to it. Much more slate/minerals than any of the other wines or Burgundies. Interesting.
Red
2004 Weingut Ökonomierat Rebholz Spätburgunder "Tradition"
Germany, Pfalz
Big, high toned nose of red fruit and spices. Big dry smoky fruit with good depth and complexity. Big grippy tannins. Very nice balance and a medium long dry finish. A "serious", as opposed to, say, a fun or primary wine. Burgundian in style and certainly as good as many 1er cru Burgundies I've had. Built for the cellar.
Flight 2 - Furst (3 notes)
Red
2005 Rudolf Fürst Klingenberger Spätburgunder
Germany, Franken
Big nose of red fruit and crushed rose petals. Big clean red fruit with very good depth and complexity. Good balance and a long satisfying finish. Approaching Grand Cru quality.
Flight 3 - Becker (3 notes)
Red
2006 Friedrich Becker Spätburgunder Trocken
Germany, Pfalz
Amazing $20 wine. Big primary red fruit nose. Big clean delicious red fruit, almost juicy. Clean and pure. Flies out of the glass. Nice balance and finish. Like a cross between a top tier Oregon Pinot and a decent 1er Cru Burgundy. Stunningly good for the price.
Red
2006 Friedrich Becker Spätburgunder "B"
Germany, Pfalz
Very big nose of red fruits and clean wood with a slight hint of dark chocolate & an even slighter hint of vanilla. Big clean red fruit with very good depth and complexity. Great balance. A pleasant but not overpowering layer of wood on top of the fruit adds a wonderful complexity. Fine tannins. Long "feminine" finish of finesse and complexity. Another ccrackling bargain at $30. Definately ageable.
Red
2005 Friedrich Becker Sankt Paul Spätburgunder Großes Gewächs
Germany, Pfalz
Huge deep nuanced nose featuring red fruit and high toned oak. Huge clean complex fruit with stunning depth and layering. Great mouthfeel. Big and fine grained tannins. Long haunting and complex finish. Young Herr Becker is a rising star in my opinion. One of the best Pinots I've ever had. Needs cellar time (according to the winemaker, 5-25 years).
Closing
A very impressive collection of good to excellent Pinot Noir with excellent quality for the price. A confirmation of the initail impressions generated at the first tasting of most of these wines in November 2007. Based on these wines, my gut tells me that German Pinot Noir will soon be thought of as being in the same league as the finest Pinot Noirs in the world.
© 2003-24 CellarTracker! LLC.
