Two German Pinot Noirs

germany pinot noir

Two German Pinot Noirs

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Seeing that I am off to Germany for a few days I thought I’d write up two German Pinot Noirs that I opened last night. I really like German Pinot Noir, mainly because I love Pinot Noir generally, and Germany makes some very good ones. But they vary a lot. In my experience, most are drinkable but average, and just a few are really thrilling – it’s a hard grape to get right. And because German wine lovers like German Pinot Noir, the best ones can be very expensive. I’m yet to be fully convinced that Germany can make really superb Pinot at affordable-ish prices in the way that New Zealand can, but I’m going to keep on researching this. I had such a lot of fun in the Ahr valley in January and tasted some stunning wines, so this has given me hope. These two bottles give me a bit more hope. If Germany gets it right, that’s really good news, because they have a lot of Pinot Noir.

Bercher Jechtinger Spatburgunder 2012 Baden, Germany
13.5% alcohol. Leafy green undergrowth edge to the floral black cherry fruit nose. Fresh, sweetly fruited cherry and berry fruit palate is ripe and quite sweet, but with silky texture, a hint of greenness and a drinkable personality. 89/100 (£18 Oddbins)

Karl H Johner Pinot Noir Enselberg 2011 Baden, Germany
14% alcohol. Sweet, smooth and silky with supple cherry fruit. Very attractive smooth textured wine with a sweet fruit profile and subtle greenness in the background. Sweet red cherry and black cherry fruit forms the core of this wine, and it’s really attractive. 93/100 (£19.99 Waitrose)

Find these wines with wine-searcher.com

1 Comment on Two German Pinot NoirsTagged ,
wine journalist and flavour obsessive

One thought on “Two German Pinot Noirs

  1. Have fun in Germany Jamie and find some great Spatburgunder for us all.
    I am a big fan of Bercher, have had both these whites.

    2008 Bercher Feuerberg Weissburgunder Trocken Grosses Gewachs (Baden, Germany)

    2010 Bercher Jechtinger Eichert Grauer Burgunder Kabinett Trocken (Baden, Germany)

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