August 24, 2016 - Nice structure but there is not much fruit. Second day the same. Third day better. Although this is from the bottom of the range of this famous Producer, this is a bit disappointing.
May 20, 2015 - Remark 5/28/2015: if you want to go in this direction, I would prefer the Weingut der Stadt Klingenberg Spätburgunder Buntsandstein.
Day 3, 5/22/2015: Finishing it off today. Took another pic of the glass. The deep brilliant, pristine ruby isn't nearly done justice by the foto which still is too orange, but nice enough to upload, so it is now part of the slide show of images above. Doesn't change the rating though. This moment I am consuming the last glass with food where it really shines, against zucchini with fried egg. Yet, as I said before, I still prefer the Engist, and not only because of the much better qpr. Even among the similarly priced Spätburgunder, I would still much prefer the Heger. I guess I am biased in favor of the Kaiserstuhl minerality. So this Becker gets its 88, and with applause, nevertheless won't buy again.
Day 2, 5/21/2015: yeah, the 88 is OK. Even without my caveat below, I don't see it getting a 90 by anyone.
Day 1, 5/20/2015:
Decanted for roughly an hour, so only half the recommended time. Brilliant, shiny, crystalline ruby glass with fading edge, it is a liquid gem. I tried to take pictures, but none of them do the color justice, they came out too orange and warm. On the nose I get some tobacco which my personal dogma rejects for Pinot Noir. Yet, I cringe and have to admit this is so well integrated. And the palate makes it even harder for me because I so wanted to rate it lower than the others to punish so much wood to be used on Pinot Noir. But the oak doesn't obstruct the fruit, which is Kirsche/cherry more than raspberry here. It makes it smooth, almost oily, such a seductive easy drinker.
Well done. The terroir seeems to bring out a more chalky than mineral (as for instance the Kaiserstuhl/Baden direction), a more velvety than stinky incarnation of the grape. I wish I could taste how Becker would have made a Spätburgunder only from steel tanks, without the tobacco. Maybe the chalky ground doesn't lend itself to such purism.
This could be an objective 90, but the 88 expresses my dislike of the wood influence on this grape variety, even though, possibly, the masterful crafting of this wine was only possible with it. I still prefer the Engist as a basic Spätburgunder. In a few days, I will compare this to the Buntsandstein Spätburgunder of the Weingut der Stadt Klingenberg.
April 20, 2015 - Weekly tasting group #164; A fully blind test. (@ SB): Transparent red. Mainly cherries in the bouquet. On the palate a lot of acidity and cherries. Needs some more time? 86 for now.
December 28, 2014 - A delicious and well-made Spätburgunder (the hand of the master is apparent), pure and aromatic, expressive but still a bit tight, bright fruit, warm spice, roses, transparent but with quite grippy tannins, creamy but not lactic; has line and length. Fine but without the exquisite charm and effortless elegance of the (admittedly) lighter 2010. Should be even better in 12-24 months.
April 17, 2014 - Syrefrisk, elegant burgunder, medium fylde og lengde. Vil passe godt til fugl.
November 15, 2013 - Similar to the 2010, perhaps lacking it's floral character. Lovely wine, great drinkability. The 'simpler' bottlings seem to get shorter time in barrel, which is nice.