Spätburgunder

The Rhine Valley in southwestern Germany is the home to the wine-producing region of Kaiserstuhl/ Baden. Since Roman times, this has been an ideal area for cultivating wine grapes. The soil consists of magma from the depths of the earth and limestone from the former capping rock. The Kaiserstuhl is Germany’s warmest region and has the most hours of sunshine. The area averages about a degree higher in temperature than Burgundy to the south. This is prime growing territory for the Burgunder or Pinot family of grapes: the Blauer Spätburgunder (Pinot Noir), the Weissburgunder (Pinot Blanc), and the Grauburgunder (Pinot Gris).

Spätburgunder is also grown in the Ortenau district of Baden, in a separate, smaller wine-growing region of Ahr located along steep hillsides that line the Ahr River as it flows into the Rhine, Franken, Hessische Bergstrasse, Mitteirhein, Nahe, Pfalz, Rheingau, Rheinhassen, Sachsen, and Württemberg. Many of these areas are better known for Riesling. Approximately 2300 acres of the Burgunder family of grapes grow in the Kaiserstuhl region. 23% of the vineyards in Baden are planted to Spätburgunder.

With the 2000 vintage, Germany has instituted the designations “Classic” and “Selection.” This change was intended to simplify matters for consumers. Classic wines can be from any of the 13 German winegrowing regions, the wines must be above average in quality, dry in taste, and made from a traditional grape variety, such as Riesling or a Burgunder. The labels bear the Classic logo next to the name of the traditional grape variety. Vineyard names are omitted to leave the labels uncluttered and simple for the consumer. Selection wines are carefully chosen, best of the vintage wines. The vineyards are first-class, yields are low, harvesting is by hand, the wines must be bottle aged, and the wines must be dry for Burgunder varietals.

Some terminology in deciphering labels can be helpful. Estate-bottled = gutsavfüllung or erzeugerabfüllung, trocken = dry, and halbtrocken = half-dry (superfluous if wines are Classic and Selection designated as all of them are dry in style).

German clonal selections are divided into five groups: compact clones, loose-berried clones, mixed clones, upright-growing clones, and small-berried clones. In Germany, the strength of a clone in resisting botrytis is uppermost in the selection process. The compact clones include the French Dijon clones such as 113, 114, 115, 667, 777, 927, 792, 872, 870, and 386, all of which have some resistance to botrytis. They are usually planted on dry, flat sites. The loose-berried clones are more resistant to botrytis, even in heavy rain years. However, in most years, the quality of the compact clones outweighs the advantage of better botrytis-resistance of the loose-berried clones. This group includes the Mariafeld clones from Wädenswil. The upright-growing clones are used for sparkling wine and Pinot Noir vinified as a white wine. The small-berried clones come from Freiburg and Geisenheim and are well-suited for producing high-value red wines. Due to good botrytis resistance, these clones can be planted in deep and rich soils. Because there is high demand in Germany for these clones, they are in limited supply.

The bible on German wines is The Gault Millau WeinGuide Deutschland. It is only published in German and not available in the United States. This is a shame since it offers over 400 of the best producers and nearly 4,000 reviews and ratings for wines.

There is only a trickle of information available about German Pinot Noir and very little of the best examples reach the United States. I have had a few here and there, and not been impressed. I have heard people joke, “Isn’t Spätburgunder the stuff the guys from Burgundy spat out?” All of this may change as American’s thirst for Pinot Noir continues to escalate. Bjoern Lanwer, a German expatriot, has recently co-founded Ingenium Wines with his American wife and a partner in Germany. While in college, he met a schoolmate and friend whose father was a government official in the Kaiserstuhl region, and he has been able to utilize his business degree and this contact to import German Pinot Noir to America. Headquartered in Alabama, he plans to focus on good, rather than entry-level Spätburgunder. Only recently arriving in the United States, he was surprised to find how “big” Pinot Noir was here, and how interested Americans are in German wines. He sent me three Oberbergen Pinot Noirs and one Pinot Gris to sample. The other importer I contacted was Truly Fine Wines Inc. in San Diego, California. They also import limited production German wines inluding Rieslings, Pinot Noirs, and rare dessert wines. I also sampled four of the Spätburgunders they are featuring.

Oberbergen

WG Oberbergen was founded in 1924 and is named after the village in which it is located. Oberbergen is a few miles east of Burkheim in the Kaiserstuhl region. It has produced Pinot Noir for over 60 years. Oberbergen wines are served in top hotels throughout Germany. I could not obtain many specifics regarding the vineyards and winemaking. The Oberbergen Pinot Noir vines grow on the steepest hillsides of the Kaiserstuhl. The main clone is FR-5286 which is a compact clone. German oak is used for aging. For the Estate Pinot Noir, “a quick fermentation is performed in which the must is heated for a short time, then cooled and pressed.” For the Select and Reserve Pinot Noirs, “a cold maceration is carried out in closed, temperature controlled tanks and the fermentation days.” The wines are aged 4 to 6 months in oak barrels (little or no aging for the Estate).

The Pinot Noirs are rather simple but they are well made with no flaws, soft textures, and a good acid backbone. The flavors vere toward the red end of the spectrum. They are comparable to many California Pinot Noirs in the under $20 category, but do not have enough fruit for many West Coast palates. Ingenium Wines, www.ingeniumwines.com, 256-883-2011.

Truly Fine Wine, Inc.

Truly Fine Wine, Inc. imports a wide variety of German wines. The website is www.trulyfinewine.com. These are wines for the adventurous who seeks variety. They are really better table wines than stand-up wines.