The Pinot Grigio they Drink in Heaven - Grand Cru Quality Plus a Stunningly Aromatic Pinot Blanc - from Ziereisen, the Master

Perhaps the Best Pinot Gris/Grigio I've  Ever Tasted - Ridiculously Juicy and Aromatic
Plus a Gorgeously Floral Pinot Blanc - A Steal for the Price 

Two Wines that My Winemaker Customers Should Try to See What a Master Can do with These Grapes

"The man is a superstar." Tim Atkins,
Master of Wine and award-winning wine journalist, broadcaster and commentator

"Ziereisen is a little bit like Bayern Munich. Another dimension of complexity and expression."
  Stephan Reinhardt, The Wine Advocate German Reviewer 11/6/15 (Facebook)

German Wine Collection of the Year, 2015 Gault Milleau

You all know the story of the genius winemaker in Baden who scored on a par with Burgundy's best

in a famous 2011 blind tasting.  You are all starting to drink his Pinot Noirs and let's just say, he's getting on the map of our great pinot noir winemakers.  Well he also makes world class white wines, although not from Riesling (it's hard to grow where he lives).

The first wine is the big boy, the 2013 Weingut Ziereisen 2013 Jaspis Grauer Burgunder (Pinot Gris/Grigio) Alte Reben for $49.99 each on a 3 pack.  So why am I offering a $49 pinot gris?  Because it's made from the best vineyards from one of the best winemakers in Europe and from 58 year old vines.  This is a Grand Cru/Grosses Gewachs quality wine.  The nose is just stunningly elegant. Really something you can get lost in with mineral and light citrus overtones.  The palate is where the fireworks really happen.  This is one of the most explosive wines I've had from Germany.  Huge,, and I mean huge acidity combined with delicious juicy fruit.  When you recover from that, there are incredible internal aromatics floating above.  The wine is completely delicious (my tasting note says, "WOW, YUM") but this wine has some serious complexity.  I had this on a pop and pour and it was amazing - it will get better with some air or bottle age.  I'd open and follow over the course of an evening - this is a special, special wine from a remarkable producer. It also got 92+ from Stephane Reinhardt. His review is below.

"The golden/brazen-colored 2013 Grauer Burgunder Alte Reben Jaspis, from 58-year-old Pinot Gris vines on chalky and iron-rich loam soils, offers a rich, intense and spicy nose with ripe fruit aromas. Aged on the lees in barrels for 22 months, this is a full-bodied, mouth-filling and very juicy but also finesse-full and vital wine with fine tannins; it also has a long and powerful, very mineral and vivacious finish. I would keep this promising wine for at least another three years or more."
Stephane Rheinhardt 92+

The second wine is the Weingut Ziereisen 2013 Lugle Weissburgunder for $24.99 on a 4 pack.  This is a single parcel Pinot Blanc from 32 year old vines on jurassic chalk. If you are looking for aromatic white wines, this is really one of the best values I've seen.  This wine is truly an aromatic superstar, which is really hard to find at this price. It also got a 90 from Stepan Reinhardt for points people out there.   The nose is just so, so pretty; floral and just really nice.  The wine equivalent of a sunset over the ocean.  The palate is just terrific - incredibly balanced with perfect acidity and minerality interweaving with citrus fruits.  Almost riesling-like.  It's a great aperitif wine because the aromatics are so great that you can sniff it for an hour, drinking occasionally.  It's great with food as well and frankly, at this price, you can open it whenever you like and not feel guilty.

The level of awe that Hanspeter Ziereisen is held in by other German winemakers is rare . That and that fact that he was by the Swiss border made me think that he was extra special precise, like some combination of a Mercedes Benz and a $25,000 mechanical watch.  I showed up on time to the second.  All of my concerns were dispelled when I met Hanspeter.  Bounding is the best word I can think of to describe him.  He was bounding all over the place.  They did not have a bottle of a particular wine in the tasting room so he bounded onto his bicycle, peddled furiously and a few minutes later showed up with the wine, leapt off the bicycle and bounded back to the table, opening the wine in almost one continuous motion.

Hanspeter is also very, very open and friendly in almost an American-like way.  He invited me to a harvest lunch of soup, lemon chicken with olives and feta (very tasty) and several other hearty dishes.

The oldest cellar at the winery was built in 1783.  Hanspeter took over wine production at Ziereisen in 1991 (he was formerly a carpenter and built most of the furniture in the winery).  He has expanded over the past decade or so and seems to have little caves of storage all over the city (he is almost finished with a giant modern cellar).

2013 Ziereisen Lugle Weissburgunder - $26.99 ($99.96 4-pack) 

2013 Ziereisen Jaspis Grauer Burgunder Alte Reben  - $52.99 

($149.97 3-pack)