It is an honor to represent someone like Henrik Möbitz. One of those people that is absolutely brilliant at everything they do. A modern day Renaissance Man. As some of you know by now, Henrik is a hobbyist winemaker at night and by day is a biochemist who specializes in cancer treatments. I'm not sure if there are many like him in the world of wine. He is as passionate and beguiled by cancer research as he is by the difficulties of growing Pinot Noir and is always questioning his work and never settles for anything. As a result, these are some of the most beautiful, elegant and cerebral Pinot Noirs on the planet. Henrik would hate that last sentence as he is modest as they come and pickier than me about wine. Half the time we are tasting in barrel and cellar and half the time we are discussing his cellar and what to drink for dinner. This year's highlights were 2010 Koepfle Pinot Noir, 2001 Kanzell Weissburgunder and a '97 Von Schubert Abtsberg Auslese. We chatted about such a huge range of topics the conversation got me almost exhausted as the wonderful wines. In a good way. Trust me.
What a set of 14's Henrick has made. They were not bottled yet when I tasted them in August of last year but they were a few months away from bottling and were in a great place. A really great place. He gets better every year as discussed before as he is never satisfied and is always tasting and drinking great Burgundies.
There is nothing more exciting to be able to debut a new cuvee to a willing audience of Henrik Möbitz fanatics. When I was tasting with Henrik this past August he whipped out a new cuvee form a vineyard called the Kapelle. Today I am offering 3-packs of the 2014 Henrik Möbitz Pinot Noir "Kapelle" at $42.99 a bottle. This is very, very limited. Henrik tells me it is the warmest of the three sites; it is a full south facing site that has a very draining, jurassic chalk soil with concrete like appearance (Kuestenkonglomerat) that limits the vines' vigour. This makes for sinewy wines with good structure, fine-boned but not a lot of flesh, although they tend to fill out over time - think Corton-Bressandes. The 14 Kapelle Pinot starts out peppery, austere and wild, but fills out with air - the tannins and something about the nose are very distinctive, tell-tale Kapelle. It is almost a Vosne/Volnay blend aromatically and has the telltale Moebitz complex, full and ripe palate full of finesse and nuance. Despite what I said about the site characteristics, the Pinot always has noticably more glycerol (ca 20% more) than the other sites. So this will, in my opinion, drink well young but will also age very well as Henrik's Pinots have an extraordinary ability to age. It really seems, from my tasting, although it could have evolved since then, to not quite have the leanness of Kanzell and not quite the fat and glycerin of the Koepfle, but something like a hybrid of both in a way. But also I could be completely wrong. I'll admit I only taste Henrik's wines with him and drinks what he opens with me, as I've never gotten a bottle of Mobitz Pinot Noir in almost 4 years of Fass Selections (they sell out fast) so my experience with his wine is not as deep as my experience with other wines in the book.
I also have a microscopic amount of Henrik's other passion project, his 2015 Gewurtztraminer Auslese GK for as little as $32.99 a half bottle on 3 splits. This is the only Gewürztraminer I sell, so dig in, as it is awesome wine. So fine, and delicate and lithe. This Gewurtz is peppery, savory and never cloying despite its richeness. The 15 is a Auslese (11.5 %vol, 63 g/l RS) and despite these numbers it has terrific freshness and purity. It does not matter year to year what ripeness level it is picked at the wine will generally taste the same. The Auslese from '15 is very similar to the Spatlese from '13. But it still is what it is which is a juicy, peppery and mineral delight.
2014 Henrik Moebitz Kapelle Pinot Noir - $44.99 ($128.97 3-pack)
(VERY LIMITED)
2015 Henrik Moebitz Gewurztraminer Auslese - $34.99
($98.97 3-pack) (VERY LIMITED)
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