Falstaff Magazin International 01/2021

wine / PINOT NOIR <

wine / PINOT NOIR < ALSACE: THE REVIVAL Alsace can also trace its Pinot Noir history back to early monastic settlements. Its Pinot Noirs once were prized wines – but that glory is only just being revived. Alsace has made giant strides in Pinot Noir over the past two decades. Lovers of Alsace wines will know that Pinot Noir is still not a permitted grape variety for grands crus – despite the fact that applications for the admission of Pinot Noir in the grands crus of Vorbourg, Hengst and Kirchberg de Barr have been lodged with the authorities for a while. This means that for most of the 20th century, Pinot Noir was not planted in the best sites and most of the fruit went into the production of Crémant d’Alsace, the region’s traditional method sparkling wine. The red wines that were made never gained much esteem. This, however, has changed fundamentally. Climate change is a key factor, but also a re-assessment of which grapes really express the soils of Alsace. Eddy Faller of Domaine Weinbach in Kayserberg also notes that the mindset of producers changed: “Making great Pinot Noir means investment: in planting, farming and winemaking gear that most winemakers in Alsace were not ready to risk. When Burgundy prices started to soar, it also created more breathing space for prices of Alsace Pinot Noir. This helped to convince producers.” Today, Alsace is a fascinating hunting ground for fine Pinot Noir: limestone, sandstone and granitic soils bring forth complex wines that are still below the radar. They lack nothing in complexity or finesse. GERMANY: RED REVOLUTION The modern Pinot Noir wave in Germany started earlier than that of Alsace. Why? Because German wines were in dire straits in the 1980s and it was then that a few pioneering producers started questioning received wisdom. After all, Pinot Noir – or Spätburgunder as the grape is called in Germany – had long been present in the country. But for centuries Germany’s winelands had been too war-ravaged to build anything but a local reputation for their wines – or to leave documentation that could piece together a continuous history. While small pockets in the Rheingau, Franken, Baden and Rheinhessen BEST OF Alsace VALENTIN ZUSSLIN BOLLENBERG 96 LUFT PINOT NOIR 2017 DOMAINE WEINBACH ALTENBOURG 96 PINOT NOIR 2019 ALBERT MANN LES SAINTES 96 CLAIRES PINOT NOIR 2019 DOMAINE MURÉ PINOT NOIR CLOS 95 SAINT LANDELIN 2013 ZIND HUMBRECHT PINOT NOIR 95 HEIMBOURG 2019 MARCEL DEISS BURLENBERG 95 PINOT NOIR 2017 BARMÈS-BUECHER PINOT NOIR 95 VIEILLES VIGNES 2019 HENRY FUCHS PINOT NOIR ROUGE 94 COMME RENARD 2019 ÉMILE BEYER PINOT NOIR LIEU-DIT 94 SUNDEL 2015 BOECKEL PINOT NOIR OBER- 94 PFOELLER 2019 have some Pinot history, producers recognised that soil and climate were eminently suited to the growing of quality Pinot Noir. These 1980s and 1990s trailblazers kept looking over their shoulders to Burgundy, took vital cues from there – and success followed. Today, their children are honing what shapes up to be an essentially German style of Pinot Noir. The focus is on soil and site, the reliance on oak or extraction is gone. Elegance is the new name of the game. Pinot lovers will find unique expressions of the grape across the four latitudes of Germany’s thirteen regions. Pinot Noir thrives on sandstone, schist, slate, rhyolite, basalt, limestone…giving thrilling new expressions to the grape. What Germany has achieved with Spätburgunder over the past 30 years is nothing short of miraculous. Today it makes some of the most exciting Pinot Noirs in the world. < Photos: Deutsches Weininstitut, Albert Mann, Meyer-Näkel 16 falstaff winter 2021

Germany is the world’s third largest grower of Pinot Noir. Here are the steep vineyards of the Ahr Valley which made a name for German Pinot Noir early on. BEST OF Germany MEYER-NÄKEL KRÄUTERBERG 98 SPÄTBURGUNDER GG 2019, AHR BERNHARD HUBER SPÄTBURGUN- 97 DER WILDENSTEIN GG 2019, BADEN ZIEREISEN JASPIS 10HOCH4 97 SPÄTBURGUNDER 2016, BADEN STODDEN ALTE REBEN HERREN- 97 BERG PINOT NOIR GG 2019, AHR KNIPSER RDP SPÄTBURGUNDER 96 2015, PFALZ RUDOLF FÜRST HUNDSRÜCK SPÄT- 96 BURGUNDER GG 2019, FRANKEN AUGUST KESSELER HÖLLENBERG 96 PINOT NOIR GG 2019, RHEINGAU KRONE JUWEL ASSMANNSHAUSEN 96 PINOT NOIR 2015, RHEINGAU DR HEGER WINKLERBERG HÄUSLE- 96 BODEN PINOT NOIR GG 2018, BADEN FRIEDRICH BECKER, HEYDENREICH 96 SPÄTBURGUNDER 2018, PFALZ winter 2021 falstaff 17