German Pinot Noir has come to the attention of the wine world in the past week when it won seven of the top 10 spots in an international Pinot Noir tasting held in London.
And at the Hong Kong International Wine and Spirits Fair, the German Wine Institute was keen to show how important Pinot Noir has become.
Known as Spatburgunder, Germany has more hectares of Pinot Noir planted than New Zealand and Australia combined. It is also the third biggest producer of Pinot Noir after France and the USA, with 11,800 ha, Yet it has not enjoyed the same attention as new world Pinot, as most of it doesn’t leave Germany. Clearly they like to keep it all for themselves.
Red grape plantings have been rising since 1980, from just 11% of all plantings to 36% today. But we haven’t heard much about it until now.
“We just talked about Riesling and that did work but we came to a point where we had to broaden that. It’s important not to be a one-trick pony,” said the German Wine Institute’s Steffen Schindler.
While Baden is the leading region for Pinot Noir production with more plantings than Australia, it has failed to market its wines effectively beyond German borders. Having tasted a small selection today, it’s clear that Baden’s Spatburgunders offer an old world savoury style of Pinot with slightly riper fruit than you’d find in Burgundy, giving an appealing generosity. If they are affordably priced, they would be a big success in the UK and beyond. They just have to get out there and strike while the iron’s hot.
My pick:
Weingut Bercher Burkheim Pinot Noir 2008
A broody, pale Pinot Noir with classic old world savoury characters. The fruit is a little more generous than you’d expect from a Burgundy Pinot Noir and offers fine grained, drawn out tannins.
