From Our New German Red Wine StarA Grape I've Wanted to Sell for 10 Years but Could Not Source Here
An Aromatic Explosion - I'm in Love with this Wine
(Almost Forgot, from the Legendary Grand Cru Centgrafenberg Vineyard)
I first tasted Fruhburgunder at the iconic Fuerst winery in Franken about 10 years ago. I've loved it ever since that day but because it is not a well known grape, the importer did not import it (the Furst version through 3 tier would also be quite expensive).
Fruhburgunder is a variant of Pinot Noir that ripens earlier. As such, it is fresh and juicy and (in the
proper hands) the palate expression is a perfect compliment to the scalable aromatic heights that Pinot Noir can attain. The grapes themselves are so delicious that the winemakers have to spend a huge amount of effort to prevent the wild boars from eating them. The boars know their stuff.
I'm literally jumping out of my socks as I write this, I'm so excited. Get ready for the 2009 Josef Walter Fruhburgunder "J" Centgrafenberg Trocken for as little as $37.99 per bottle on a 3-pack. The nose on this wine is simply awesome. One of those wines where you just smell it and you don't even sip it for 15 minutes it's so gorgeous. Lilacs, licorice a hint of fresh cherry. Just great. On the palate, it is just delicious. Super fresh acidity with juicy first of season cherry fruit and a hint of licorice. But the real pleasure are the internal aromatics that bounce all over your palate as the wine aerates inside your mouth. They are gorgeous. Some of the most complex and wonderful aromatics I've had this year. The finish is juicy and very long. To me, this is my favorite style of Pinot Noir. Walter's wines are all incredibly good but they are very different depending on the grape and vineyard. Walter simply absolutely nails Fruhburgunder. You can drink it now but please let this aerate for 30 minutes. It has the stuffing to age for a decade or more.
The Fruhburgunder is from one of my favorite vineyards the spectacular Grand Cru (German Grosses Gewachs) Centgrafenberg. You are getting wine that is from a top vineyard and made by an extremely talented winemaker for under $40. Oh this is a great wine geek wine that almost no one will have in their cellar (unless you are dining with David Schildknecht if he smuggled some home in his luggage).
Almost no one has heard of Christoph Walter except for his colleagues in Franken and the top restaurants that carry his wines (including the Michelin one star where I ate on my most recent trip) He has a small estate (3.5 hectares - that's Willi Schaefer small) in the small town of Burgstadt. I mean don't blink when you drive through it or you'll miss it small. His winery used to be almost totally inaccessible. As a result he sells the most underpriced high end red wines I've had in a long time. Maybe ever. You know how I often say that my producers make great wine from lesser terroir? Yeah. Not this guy. He's making awesome wine from terrific vineyards.
Christoff Walter is unassuming and modest I mean really modest. He speaks conversational English but keeps on apologizing for his poor English. He was visibly uncomfortable when I tried to photograph him. He doesn't really sell his wines like most producers. He almost seems not to want to sell them because they improve with age and the quality of the wine is all he seems to care about. He has only 3.5 hectares and he obsessively works every vine to maximize quality.
I say he's like Martin Muellen for several reasons. First, he is a relative unknown. Second, he is in a lesser known wine region. Third, his wines have great balancing acidity and insane freshness even though they are mostly medium bodied (and in one case on the rich side of European Pinot). Finally, his wines are built to age. For decades. The acid balance and structure are all there in spades. I also know that he will be discovered as Muellen was and prices will go up and stocks will vanish.
If you've read my recent blog post on climate change and wine you know that higher temperatures have allowed colder regions to make ripe and delicious Pinot noir where previously this was generally impossible. Wines from these regions are less well known and represent stunning values. This is like buying Grand Cru Burgundy twenty years ago. I think that Fuerst's Centgrafenbergs represent good value at twice this price. I'm not going to compare the producers because Sebastien is a friend but I will say that both winemakers are world class and leave it at that. Sebastien has introduced me to Paul Weltner and now Christoff Walter (Weltner drinkers have not been disappointed, to put it mildly).
Walter is not a member of the VDP so these wines are not technically Grosses Gewachs even though they come from the same vineyard as GGs (you can only call your wine Grosses Gewachs if you join the VDP). All wines are bottled in stelvin. I've always been skeptical that wines would age properly in stelvin but I'm a believer now. Walter uses stelvin to avoid bottle variation - I've heard the same from other forward thinking German producers.
2009 Josef Walter Fruhburgnder Centgrafenberg "J" - $39.99
($119.97 3-pack) (VERY LIMITED)
No comments:
Post a Comment